One year since Kamloops unmarked graves discovery marked with sombre ceremony

Emotional support or assistance for those who are affected by the residential school system can be found at Indian Residential School Survivors Society toll-free 1 (800) 721-0066 or 24-hr Crisis Line 1 (866) 925-4419.

Editor’s note: An earlier version incorrectly stated 15,000 children attended residential schools. The number has been corrected to 150,000.

The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc held a memorial on Monday to mark one year since the detection of unmarked graves at the former residential school site in Kamloops, B.C.

The day-long memorial was open to the public to gather in person, or online, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon both attended and made brief comments.

Trudeau acknowledged those who welcomed him and others who were displeased with his attendance. Although some applauded his comment about “bringing Canada on a journey,” others booed in disapproval.

The moderator urged crowd members who were heard yelling, “Take your disrespect out of our tribe,” to “respect the elders,” as Trudeau was set to meet with elders, and survivors.

“The unmarked graves brought truth to the world and the world stood with us in solidarity and unity,” Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir said Monday as she thanked the world for its support after her community publicly revealed the findings of a search at the former residential institution.

“What scientific investigation confirmed were the truth about our survivors and what they’ve always known: many children did not make it home,” she said.

“As we commemorate today, we also want to acknowledge the other communities that have had similar findings. Our hearts are with you and all the communities that had been affected and all of our consultants who have been impacted, as well as the public who too have been traumatized and learning as a true impacts of the residential school and what it has [done to] our people.”

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Angela White, the executive director for the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, which operates the 24 hour a day crisis line, says since the first discovery the mourning process has been very difficult.

White says the entire year was tainted by the dark news.

“The emotions are very charged. I think a lot of it is with regards to one, giving the survivors the permission to begin the healing journey that they needed,” White told CityNews.

Although the process of receiving apologies from all involved in the residential school system has been ongoing, White says there is a vast range of justified emotional reactions to the apologies.

“Hearing the apologies that have came out created a lot of mixed feelings, from ‘I don’t want to accept it’ to ‘I’m grateful the apology or some form of apology finally came.’ And there’s nothing wrong with any of those, because every single person has that ability to feel what they feel in that moment of vulnerability.”

Thousands of unmarked graves have been discovered at former residential school sites across the country over the past year.

Searches are ongoing at several sites, including in Williams Lake, B.C. near the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School site, as well as the Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan. The Cowessess First Nation estimates more than 700 unmarked graves at that site.

Many of the residential schools in Canada officially operated from the late 1800s through most of the 1900s. It’s estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced into the system.

Many survivors and their families have provided detailed testimony of physical, emotional, mental, and sexual abuse at the hands of residential school staff. The system has led to intergenerational trauma that continues to affect families and communities to this day.

“If you’re a family member of a survivor, please check in with anyone that you love and hold dear to your heart to just see where they are, how they’re doing, go out for tea or coffee, or just sit and visit and listen to what they have to say without interjecting with some advice because there really is no advice that we could possibly give other than just being there and allowing them to feel safe,” White added.

‘Bring the children home’

After a year of grieving, Casimir says the community is now preparing for the next phase which includes work to exhume the remains.

“We’ll be honoring May 23 and after that, there is still much work that is going to be taking place. We know that we have a task force that consists of technical expertise that is going to be doing a lot of the archaeological work, and we’re going to be you know, moving towards, you know, more [Ground Penetrating Radar] work,” Casimir said.

Only a small portion of the 160-acre site has been searched to date, with the previous data focused primarily on the apple orchard. While scientists were able to confirm the presence of human remains, a lot of work on identification still needs to be done.

The next site which will be searched will be the area surrounding the site of the Chief Louis Centre, which was once the Kamloops Industrial School, in use between 1890 and 1924. The operation is expected to take a month and is estimated to be complete at the end of June.

“As we go through the GPR work and more of the archaeological, we’re going to be you know, working with the collaboration of different technical levels as well to be able to utilize and maximize that science that’s going to dictate how and what those next steps will be,” she said.

Many survivors have expressed their wishes that the remains be undisturbed, and others have said the victims should be properly laid to rest.

Casimir says no matter what, the community will be kept informed and the cultural ceremonies and traditions will be upheld in each step of the process.

“This is something that is has not happened in the history here in Canada, there is no set of guidelines, no checklists.”

– With files from Hana Mae Nassar, Mike Llloyd, and Crystal Laderas