“It’s very important for them to know that we are here to help them and not harm them,” said Murray, who is a Kanien’kehá:ka from Kanesatake, Que. The federal government appointed Murray in June with a two-year mandate to provide recommendations on a legal framework to protect burial sites at former residential schools, locate missing children and potentially repatriate remains. More than 300 First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders, representative organizations, survivors and families are attending the two-day gathering, which is also being partially live-streamed to the public. “It’s not just state forgiveness at play here,” said Natan Obed, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president. “There are so many family realities—intergenerational, personal realities—that are so fundamentally connected to not knowing where your grandfather is buried, or not knowing what happened to the brother or sister you had. “These processes, like the one we’re about to start here, make incredible sense in how we function as Indigenous peoples within our communities.” Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Nathan Obed and Pope Francis in Edmonton during the papal visit in July. (Adam Scotti/Office of the Prime Minister) Over 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend government-funded schools between the 1870s and 1997. While an entire volume of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was devoted to inconsequential burials and missing children, the work was left unfinished. The National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, which continues the work of the TRC, has identified over 4,000 children who died in residential schools so far. Causes of death include disease, accidents, neglect and criminal acts. “The TRC has highlighted the need for further work to be done to protect unmarked child burial sites and to find a way to trace children who never returned home to their families and communities,” Murray said. He said children sent to other institutions such as federal Indian hospitals, health centres, mental health institutions or district hospitals should also be considered. “Many people believe, myself included, that they are probably insignificant burials of children who died in these places as well,” Murray said. A memorial outside the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, BC, in June 2021, after indiscriminate burials were discovered at the site. (Ben Nelms/CBC) Like the empty chair at that gathering, there was one placed next to former TRC commissioner Wilton Littlechild at each hearing when the commission traveled across Canada to hear from survivors. He said this process will be important to honor the memory of the children who never returned home. “We have to remember that we have the traditional law that tells us what to do. They say the hardest thing is when a child spirit leaves,” he said. “We would invite the spirit of that child to come sit in the chair and listen to the stories, and more importantly give us strength to listen to the more than 7,000 stories we did – the most horrific stories of child abuse. “ Tuesday’s gathering also included breakout sessions, which were not broadcast live, on files, records, search technology, investigations and barriers to protecting and accessing websites. Summaries of what was discussed during the sessions will be presented on Wednesday. Support is available for anyone affected by their residential school experience or recent reports. A national crisis line for residential schools in India has been set up to provide support to ex-students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419. Mental health counseling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.
