Calls to Action After 215 Indigenous Children Found in Mass Grave At Former Residential School

After the unmarked graves of 215 children, some as young as three, were found at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, BC, First Nations, and lawmakers are demanding action.  

First Nations, in addition to lawmakers internationally, are calling on the Catholic Church to disclose records that may help identify the remains discovered last week in the culmination of an investigation started by The Brandon Indian Residential School Cemeteries Project in 2012.  

Those who were forced into residential schools, which operated across Canada between the late 1800s and 1970s by the Catholic Church and other churches, say that the finding confirms their experiences.  

“A lot of the survivors knew of these gravesites, but nobody believed them,” National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Perry Bellegarde said in a statement. “Here’s the tragic, painful evidence of gravesites being found. And so now nobody can deny that the residential schools were a genocide of our people.” 

In addition, members of the First Nations say that the shocking discovery at Kamloops residential school is only the tip of the iceberg.  

“That this situation exists is sadly not a surprise and illustrates the damaging and lasting impacts that the residential school system continues to have on First Nations people, their families and communities,” said the First Nations Health Authority CEO in a statement issued after the discovery, reports CBC.  

United Nations human rights experts have also called on the Vatican to “conduct full-fledged investigations into the circumstances and responsibilities surrounding these deaths,” reports The Guardian. The experts also say the judiciary in Canada needs to conduct criminal investigations into “all suspicious deaths and allegations of torture and sexual violence against children hosted in residential schools.” 

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau had strong words for the Catholic Church Friday.  

“We’re still seeing resistance from the Church, possibly from the Church in Canada,” Trudeau said in a weekly press conference, according to Global News. “Many Catholics like myself over the course of the past many days, [are] wondering why the Catholic Church in Canada is silent, is not stepping up, is not showing the leadership.” 

First Nations members are also asking for answers, not only from the Catholic Church, but also from the government.  

“All eyes are on First Nations as we attempt to digest the most recent evidence of the genocide against our people, our children,” said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde in a statement calling for full implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was created in 2008 to provide those affected by the Indian Residential School System the chance to share their experiences. In 2015, the Commission released a report, calling for more transparency about the Residential School System and what happened to those physically and sexually abused at these institutions.  

“We have to acknowledge the truth. Residential schools were a reality — a tragedy that existed here, in our country, and we have to own up to it,” Trudeau said in an earlier statement after the discovery at Kamloops residential school was announced. “Kids were taken from their families, returned damaged or not returned at all.” 

Financial compensation from the government to the First Nations and families in light of the discovery of a mass grave at the former Kamloops does not appear to be forthcoming, however, according to legal experts who talked to CTV News.  

Former residential school and Indian Day School students have turned to class action lawsuits for long-overdue compensation. A final report was issued in the Federal Indian Day School settlement, stating that more than $3 billion had been paid out in claims.  

While Canada’s history of discrimination toward Aboriginal youth is most evidently illustrated through the country’s residential schools, members of the First Nation have also filed legal action concerning child welfare, unsafe drinking water, coerced sterilization, and police brutality.  

Tell us your thoughts after the shocking discovery of a mass grave at Kamloops residential school in the comments below.  

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