TORONTO -- First Nations communities and Indigenous groups across Canada are now grappling with what to do next after locating the remains of 215 children who were buried in unmarked graves near a residential school in British Columbia.
Last week, the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation revealed it had discovered what it believed are the bodies of 215 First Nations children who had been buried on the grounds of a residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation has asked for privacy as it considers its own next steps, but it has already begun contacting other First Nations to identify the children.
The Kamloops school is just one of 146 residential schools in Canada, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. First Nations groups must now decide what to do at the other locations, where it鈥檚 believed other unmarked graves could be located.
Pat Pratt-Malbeuf, a ceremonial elder in Quinton, Sask., with four generations of family members sent to residential schools, is calling for a spiritual ceremony a path forward.
鈥淭hose brothers, sisters, children that never came home, ceremony鈥檚 the only thing that鈥檚 going to save them,鈥� she told 麻豆影视 with tears in her eyes.
鈥淣o blaming. Let鈥檚 just move together. We鈥檙e all one.鈥�
Pratt-Malbeuf鈥檚 niece Sarain Fox, an Indigenous artist and activist, believes these burial sites should be recognized as sacred spaces.
Fox said she grew up hearing about the horrors her relatives faced at these schools.
鈥淏abies being cemented in the walls and being buried there and that was part of the stories that I grew up hearing,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hose were tragic.鈥�
In an interview with The Canadian Press on Wednesday, federal Justice Minister David Lametti said he was open to the idea of considering additional legal protections to residential schools with burial grounds to protect these sites from damage.
"I'm willing to look at that, that certainly would come within the bailiwick of the justice minister and the criminal law power and I'm certainly open to that," he said in the interview.
"Our Public Prosecution Service and police services are getting better, they have a lot of work to do, but they're getting much better at understanding the challenges of looking at these kinds of crimes that were committed against Indigenous people in the past."
When it comes to examining these burial grounds for any other unmarked graves, researchers believe that the affected communities need to be consulted beforehand.
鈥淲e ate together, we did ceremony together,鈥� said Kisha Supernant, director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archeology at the University of Alberta. 鈥淲e presented to the community so they understood what we're doing."
In Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., staff are investigating the possibility of burial grounds outside marked gravesites at a former residential school that is now home to Algoma University.
Similar investigations are underway at the locations of several residential schools in Saskatchewan.
鈥淲e鈥檙e on our way to another site,鈥� said Bobby Cameron, Chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations. 鈥淭he chief and some of the survivors have asked to keep it silent for now until we do the protocols.鈥�
Meanwhile in Manitoba, Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias is calling for justice.
鈥淭here should be a criminal investigation,鈥� he said. 鈥淪omebody needs to answer for these cases and we need some action.鈥�
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If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.
