The town of Kamloops was once the location to one of the more tragic times in our country’s history, as it was once the largest running residential school in Canada operating from 1890-1978. It was under the control of the Catholic Chruch trying to forcibly teach the ways of western civilization onto the Indigenouse peoples. The School has become a Symbol to Canada to not forget to what happened to Indigenous children across the country.

The school is located on the land of the Tkèmlúps te Secwepmc First nations, and is only one out of 130 schools that were once operating in Canada. These schools were known for the harsh living conditions, the physical and emotional abuse that the children faced, neglect from the staff, and the attemps to earse the Indigenous languages and cultures. As children were forced to move away from their families and homes to be concluded to mistreatment and forced into labour.

In 2021, the month of May, 215 unmarked graved were discovered at the kamloops residential school site, this not only shocked the country but gathered international attention. The graves sites were believed to be the resting place of Indigenous children who have passed during the time of the schools operation, it is said to be from dieases including tuberculosis, and malnutrition from neglect or abuse. This discovery engaged a nation wide act of reconciliation with Canada’s history of colonialism and the impact it has had on the Indigenous communities.

Surviving families of residential schools have had to live with the trauma from their experiences for years, but it was not until 2015 that the Truth and Reconiliation Comissions report put the tragedies of residential schools in full effect. The graves discovered at at Kamloops left a reminder to the emotional and physical pain that Ingienous people are left with from residentials schools, as it not only effects just the people directly at the schools, but also their families for many generations to come.

Works consulted

Parks Canada. (2025, February 12). The Former Kamloops Indian Residential School National Historic Site. https://parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/lieu-site/pensionnat-kamloops-residential-school

Tatum, S. (2021, May 28). Remains of 215 children discovered at former residential school in Canada. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/world/children-remains-discovered-canada-kamloops-school/index.html