“The truth cannot be hidden.”
On The Bodies of 215 Indigenous Children Being Found on Kamloops Residential School Property
Fort Chip Métis join the Secwépemc Nation and the world in mourning today. These 215 children—at the very start of their lives—were cut down. These babies were stripped of their culture, of their language, and of their lives by the horrible conditions of the Kamloops residential school. These children were taken from their communities.
They died in the company of strangers. And now, their souls can finally be recognized. But recognition cannot be the end. Many people in Canada were shocked and dismayed at the scale of death hiding in residential schools. While we stand in dismay, many of us are are not shocked, cannot be shocked, having heard so many stories of brutality and death passed down to us by our ancestors. Now, the rest of Canada knows.
The government of Canada thought it could bury its horrible secrets. They were wrong.
As we join Chief Casimir in proclaiming history—a history which all First Nations live with and which all Canadians should know—must not stay hidden, we also call to the Government of Canada for justice.
The Secwepemc Nation is now taking on the heart-breaking work of trying to identify their lost children. We stand with them and the lost children, now finally found. We strongly state that the Government of Canada must be held accountable for these stolen lives. We must hold them accountable, in honour of those lost in Kamloops, and for the countless other lost souls, waiting under Mother Earth, calling out, to be yet discovered.