In the wake of the find announced by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation in B.C., survivors, Indigenous leaders and faith leaders are calling on the Roman Catholic Church to apologize and take responsibility for the atrocities committed against children, families and communities in the residential school system.
KAMLOOPS, B.C. - News of the remains of 215 children being discovered at the site of a former residential school in British Columbia jolted Clayton Peters, whose seven years of torment there have been mostly encased in silence around fears of soap and strappings, a cold dark room and dreams of running away.
Canada to Exhume Indigenous Children s Remains, Return to Villages for Burial
On 6/1/21 at 9:51 AM EDT
The Canadian government has plans underway to bring in forensic teams to exhume and identify the remains of over 200 indigenous children found buried at a residential school in order to return them to their villages.
Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk emlups te Secwepemc First Nation in British Columbia said the remains of 215 children were confirmed this month with the help of ground-penetrating radar.
The bodies were found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, which was the largest residential school in the country.
The National Truth and Reconciliation Commission said the practice of the schools was to not return the bodies of children who died to their communities. Federation Chief Bobby Cameron said finding and returning the children s remains for proper burials is important for First Nations communities and families to find closure.
Kamloops residents and First Nations people gather to listen to drummers and singers at a memorial in front of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia May 31, 2021. Indigenous leaders and residential school survivors in Canada are calling on officials to conduct a thorough investigation of every former residential school in the country after the remains of more than 200 children were found on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. (CNS photo/Dennis Owen, Reuters)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (CNS) Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver said he was “filled with deep sadness” after learning of the discovery of the bodies of more than 200 children buried on the site of what was once Canada’s large Indigenous residential school.
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