Mass grave at former B.C. residential school reveals remains of 215 children

Locals to honour the children with flag-lowering, orange shirts, and vigil

Over the May long weekend, the remains of 215 children were confirmed to have been buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

According to CBC, the discovery was made during a survey of the grounds by a specialist hired by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation.

“To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,” Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir said in a statement.

Casimir went on to say that some of them were only three years old.

This is not the first time deaths have occurred at the Kamloops school.

Set up in 2008 to find out what happened in residential schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was told 50 deaths occurred at the Kamloops institution.

This is according to Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, who told CBC that “massive ongoing problems” with historical records, including those “held by certain Catholic entities that they will not release,” make it difficult to get the truth of exactly what happened.

Turpel-Lafond also raised concern about how sexual and physical abuse may have factored into the deaths, given the history of such violence in residential schools.

Work continues on the findings, as Lisa Lapointe, B.C.’s chief coroner, told the CBC the Coroners Service and the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc are “early in the process of gathering information.”

In Canada, flags have been lowered province-wide in honour of the children.

Locally, the City of Guelph and University of Guelph have lowered flags at their facilities. Both released statements on Sunday: Mayor of Guelph Cam Guthrie said all flags will be lowered until further notice; meanwhile the U of G announced it intends to keep its flags at half-mast for 215 hours.

In addition, the university encouraged all campus community members to wear orange, “as a gesture of respect and as an acknowledgement of the need for reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.”

A vigil has been organized by members of the Guelph community for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night, beginning on the steps of the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate church in downtown Guelph.

According to the event description: “Allies are welcome but be mindful that this is for Indigenous people by Indigenous people. Please bring candles, kids shoes, drums and respectful signs. Speakers, drumming and prayer will take part at the vigil.”

In accordance with COVID-19 safety guidelines, all attendees must wear a mask and remain six feet apart.