Two Catholic churches burned down on First Nations land in Similkameen region
Posted June 26, 2021 10:44 am.
Last Updated June 26, 2021 8:08 pm.
CAWSTON (NEWS 1130) — Two more Catholic churches on First Nations reserves in the Okanagan-Similkameen region have burned to the ground in early morning fires Saturday.
Emergency crews were first called just before 4 a.m. to the fire at St. Anne’s Catholic Church near the town of Hedley.
Another fire was reported about an hour later at the Chopaka Church near Keremeos.
Sgt. Jason Bayda, Media Relations Coordinator for Penticton RCMP, says both churches were completely destroyed, with wildfire crews attending to a small brush fire sparked by the flames engulfing the Chopaka Church.
This comes after two churches were set on fire in Osoyoos and Penticton earlier in the week.
“We are treating these fires as suspicious and are currently looking to determine any possible connection to the fires in both Penticton and Oliver,” Bayda says.
All four of these buildings have been standing tall in the communities for decades.
St. Ann’s Church was built around 1910.
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Chief Keith Crow of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band was on the site Saturday morning. He says he believes someone may have “took it upon themselves to burn these churches down.” He says he is “very disappointed.”
“We do have devout Catholics within our nation, and people who still practise, and I support them just like I support everybody else.”
There’s no word yet on a cause for the fire or if anyone has been arrested in relation.
“It’s under investigation at this point, until we know more. There’s not much I can say, but I’m not happy,” says Crow.
This week, the discovery of 751 unmarked graves on the grounds of a former residential school in Saskatchewan was confirmed just weeks after the remains of 215 children were found in Kamloops.
Crow says many are left reeling at the discovery.
“I’m hoping that this does not create a split in our community and more anger,” he says.
“We have a lot of people upset with the residential school right now with what’s happening in Kamloops, what’s happening in Saskatchewan. And we know that there is more testing being done in other residential schools and it’s just gonna bring up more and more emotion for our people.”
– With files from Bethlehem Mariam
