The discovery of the remains of 215 undocumented Indigenous children at the former Kamloops Residential School, British Columbia, though horrifying, is not unexpected. As stated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on the residential school system, many of the children who were forcibly placed in these schools never made it back home to their families and communities. A 1927 report of the Kamloops School made clear mention of the building’s poor conditions such that, cases of bronchitis and pneumonia were not uncommon. The residential school system and its later iterations (i.e. the 60’s Scoop) speak to a broader history of cultural genocide, whereby Indigenous cultures and traditions were purposefully and violently targeted for eradication. To this day, Indigenous peoples are still reckoning with the effects of these policies in the form of ingrained institutional racism and intergenerational trauma.
