Indigenous people in Canada grapple with ‘unthinkable loss’

Bodies of 215 Indigenous children were found at a former residential school in the province of British Columbia this week.

Indigenous people across Canada are grappling with the discovery of the remains of more than 200 Indigenous children, including some as young as three, at the site of a former residential school in the western province of British Columbia this week. Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation chief Rosanne Casimir announced (PDF) on Thursday that the remains of 215 children were found on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, saying “an unthinkable loss that was spoken about but never documented” had been confirmed. “To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,” Casimir said.