Calls for residential school abuse records to be re-examined for names of deceased
CTV
Geraldine Shingoose was shocked when she opened a report probing what should be done to protect potential unmarked grave sites at former residential schools for Indigenous children.
Geraldine Shingoose was shocked when she opened a report probing what should be done to protect potential unmarked grave sites at former residential schools for Indigenous children.
Of the thousands of former students who detailed the abuses they suffered to an adjudicator tasked with determining their eligibility for compensation under the historic Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, only about 30 have sought to have copies of their words archived.
Shingoose -- an Indigenous elder and residential school survivor -- is among that small group. She said she's heartbroken to think thousands of records will be destroyed within five years unless more survivors also request their preservation, an option she fears most are not even aware of.
"That's history," she said in a recent interview.
"Those are sacred stories."
The debate surrounding the future of these records has gained momentum since more First Nations began seeking answers about what happened to the children who died and disappeared from residential schools.
Kimberly Murray says she began thinking of them after the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc Nation in British Columbia announced in May 2021 that ground-penetrating radar had detected what are believed to be 215 unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
