After skipping earlier invitations, Trudeau meeting with B.C. First Nation on Monday
CBC
The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Nation in B.C. will meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, about two weeks after he apologized to the First Nation's leadership for not responding to invitations to join them to mark the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Nation is located near the site of the former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., where about 200 possible unmarked burial sites were detected by a radar survey this spring.
According to a media release issued today by the First Nation, Kukpi7 (chief) Rosanne Casimir and Trudeau will hold a joint press conference Monday morning and participate in an event with members of the community to hear from and honour residential school survivors.
Casimir, Trudeau and Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald are all expected to deliver remarks.
Last week, the Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc Nation released a statement stressing that Trudeau's visit should focus "on the real issues of reconciliation" and be more than just a media event.
"Real action and change is needed that supports healing, the revitalization of our language, culture, traditions, and ways of knowing," says the statement. "We are not interested in apologies that don't lead to institutional and widespread change."
The First Nation called on Trudeau to commit federal funding to a new healing centre to support residential school survivors.
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