Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc to reflect on 3 years since '215' findings
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
It's been nearly three years since the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation shared the preliminary findings of a ground-penetrating radar survey on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School that the nation said indicated the remains of approximately 200 people could be buried on the site.
To many, that day and news is associated with the number 215, as that was the initial number of people's buried remains that was provided. Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc later clarified that the survey had found about 200 potential unmarked graves on the grounds.
On Thursday, the First Nation will have a day of reflection to honour those findings and consider the lasting impacts of the residential school system in Canada.
"We urge everyone to set aside time for introspection, learning, and being with loved ones," Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc said on its website.
"As we pause to reflect and honour the memory of Le Estcwicwéy̓ (the missing) and all those affected by the residential school system, let us also recommit ourselves to the ongoing work of reconciliation and healing."
Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc offices will be closed on Thursday.
As she thinks back over the past three years, Angela White, executive director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, said she's thinking about all the people who have reached out needing support and looking for ways to help survivors. But this time is also about considering that, for many, there may never be a resolution.
"It's really about helping people, guiding them, standing with them side by side and really looking at all the unanswered questions that we may never have answers for," said White.
More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were removed from their home communities and families for extended periods and forced to attend church-run, government-funded residential schools between the 1870s and 1997.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) estimates about 4,100 children died at residential schools across the country, based on death records, but has said the true total is likely much higher. Large numbers of Indigenous children who were forcibly sent to residential schools never returned home, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
Residential schools have been described by the TRC as an "attempt to destroy Aboriginal cultures and languages."
Residential schools were often under-funded, overcrowded and, according to the NCTR, the education offered at residential schools was poor.
Children forced to attend residential schools were punished for speaking their own languages and engaging in other cultural practices and many suffered verbal, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of staff and other students, the NCTR says.
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