CHARBONNEAU – Silence creates doubt over Tk’emlúps gravesites

(Image: Mel Rothenburger)

 CHIEF (Kúkpi7) ROSANNE CASIMIR had a lot to say five years ago when potential unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School were discovered.

 In 2021, Casimir’s 600-word press release set off a storm of inquiry into Kamloops and other possible residential school gravesites.

 She has been strangely silent ever since.

 The Kamloops’ discovery started a period of national grieving. Ottawa lowered flags for five months, established the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and gave hundreds of millions of dollars to First Nations searching for victims of residential schools.

 In heart-rending vigils across the country, people tied orange ribbons to power poles and little dresses to fence posts. Pope Francis apologized to residential school survivors in 2022.

 In a way that Kamloopsians would rather not be known, we became the center of national and global attention; a place that many Indigenous leaders, activists, scholars, clergy, journalists, and even some politicians described as a site of genocide.

 Five years later, Kamloops has made national news again with the Globe and Mail’s front page story What Lies Beneath.

 In their feature length article by Patrick White and Willow Fiddler, Kamloops is on the map again. The authors look for answers to why no progress has been made.

 Patrick White is known for his in-depth reporting on justice, Indigenous reconciliation. Willow Fiddler is an Anishinaabe Oji-Cree from Sandy Lake First Nation. They write:

 “Since the announcement in 2021, the story of the Tk’emlúps 215 has moved from certainty to ambiguity. Ms. Casimir’s first press release said the community had located ‘the remains of 215 children.’ Her latest, issued on Feb. 17 of this year, is a model of equivocation: ‘As with any investigation, circumstances evolve as assumptions are tested, data is verified and new information emerges,’ it states. ‘While the investigation has been more complex than we initially thought, we are making progress and will continue adapting our methodologies and information as it advances.’”

 Casimir’s silence has added fuel to deniers who suggest that there is nothing to find under the former apple orchard at the school.

 The uncertainty has given rise to a loud contingent of skeptics who say that the First Nation’s reluctance to provide more information is proof of a vast hoax. Casimir’s silence gives credence to B.C. MLA Dallas Brodie who has called the Tk’emlúps discovery “the greatest lie in Canadian history.”

 Instead of prevaricating, Casimir should put doubts to rest. Trust in reconciliation with First Nations depends on it.

 Trust has been weakened with the Cowichan decision in which private land was awarded to the First Nation. The Cowichan say not to worry, they have no intent on taking what’s legally theirs. But can we trust that they won’t?

 And since the feds have given taxpayer’s money into the discovery of the graves, I’m an interested party.

 By March, 2026, the federal commitment to Tk’emlúps  had reached $9.5 million according to the office of Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty.

 The nation is watching Chief Casimir. What you stirred up has not settled down.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.