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As stories of the horrors of residential schools circulate after the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation announced it had located what are believed to be the remains of 215 children, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said he feels a connection with the former students.
Phillip was placed in a foster care system in the 1950s that, to this day, consists of a disproportionate number of Indigenous children, he said. He was raised by white people and he was one of only two Indigenous students at his high school.
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The report of 215 unmarked graves discovered by ground penetrating radar at the Kamloops residential school sent shockwaves across the world late last month.
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OTTAWA – Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said Thursday the government is now actively reaching out to Indigenous communities to fund searches of former residential school sites, but opposition MPs charged that move came only after the discovery of 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops, B.C.
Bennett was appearing at the House of Commons Indigenous Affairs Committee for the first time since the gruesome discovery underneath the former Kamloops Residential School, where a search using ground penetrating radar showed the remains of an estimated 215 children.
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(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca) June 06, 2021 - 6:00 PM As much of non-Indigenous Canada revisits the country’s colonial history others closer to it have questioned why so much of it has been preserved, including buildings like the former Kamloops Residential School. Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir addressed that in a press conference Friday morning, where she explained that the old structure where so much harm was wrought was a decision made to be sure that the past is not forgotten. “We know some have been torn down. For us, we want ours and will have it remain standing. It is a huge piece of history that we don t want to be forgotten, but to be learned from,” Casimir said.
Brenda Dubois, a residential school survivor, says more needs to be done to assist in the search of other potential unmarked graves across Canada and in changing this country’s foster care system.