Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc chief says probe into possible unmarked graves continues with no end in sight

Five years after Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc sent shockwaves around the world by announcing the First Nation found more than 200 possible unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, the chief says the community doesn’t yet know if or when it will proceed with excavation.

Kúkpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir told CBC News the nation is still in an engagement phase with dozens of communities that sent children to the institution when it was in operation from 1890 to 1978 to try to get consensus on the path forward.

“For us, it is about truth and reconciliation and being able to work with all the different communities, our neighbouring nations, our consultants and our families,” Casimir said.

“There’s so many that have been impacted directly from the Kamloops Indian Residential School.”

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Casimir said the investigation is also trying to access more records, including compensation claims from survivors who applied through the Independent Assessment Process and Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement. 

The Supreme Court of Canada ordered the documents be destroyed on Sept. 19, 2027, unless survivors submit a consent form to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to have their personal records preserved. 

“We still have to find many answers,” Casimir said.

The work is delicate and Casimir couldn’t say how much longer it would take.

The 2021 announcement from Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, in south-central British Columbia, sparked a national reckoning on residential schools, along with searches at former sites across the country. It also faced a wave of heavy backlash from skeptics, including those who reject the possibility that there could be graves on the grounds of the former institutions.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found over a decade ago that Canada’s residential school system amounted to cultural genocide, and that thousands of Indigenous children at the schools died during the more than 150 years in which they operated.

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“I don’t think we should have to prove to anybody what happened to these people because they are there and they send us messages telling us they’re there,” said Grand Chief Garrison Settee of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak last week during the annual general meeting of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) in Ottawa. 

“You just don’t go into any cemetery and start digging up graves just to prove that someone died. It is disrespectful to our culture … Every nation has a right to decide what they should do.” 

The AFN passed an emergency resolution calling on Canada to criminalize any speech that downplays or denies the harms caused by residential schools. 

Justice Minister Sean Fraser’s office told CBC News that the issue warrants further dedicated parliamentary study.

“Any legal response should be developed carefully in genuine consultation and co-operation with Indigenous Peoples and the communities most affected,” Fraser’s office said in a statement.

Within four months of sharing the preliminary findings of a ground-penetrating radar survey that initially suggested remains of 215 children could be buried on the former residential school site, Casimir said the community had to hire 24-hour security.

“It was because somebody showed up with a shovel,” Casimir said. “Our team said, ‘You know what, we got to bring in security. We can’t have this happening. This is a sacred site and it cannot be tampered with.'”

Around-the-clock security remains in place supported by the federal government, Casimir said. 

Since 2021, the government has spent $285.5 million funding 166 Indigenous-led projects from the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund, according to the Office of the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.

It said the money can be used for research, field investigations, identification of remains and repatriation.

Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc alone has received more than $9.5 million. 

But First Nations leaders gathered at the AFN last week, including Casimir, said there have been substantial cutbacks in funding for investigations into potential unmarked burials, and some communities can’t fully implement the work plans they’ve created. 

“That’s going to continue to put up barriers for our nations,” said Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige.

The minister’s office said there have been no changes to eligible activities under the program, including DNA-related work, but the requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis. 

A national 24-hour Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available at 1-866-925-4419 for emotional and crisis referral services for survivors and those affected. 

Mental health counselling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.