When we are acknowledged, we will rise.

This past week the news of 215 Little Souls, buried deep in the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation near Kamloops, B.C. has rocked us to our collective cores.  Growing up and studying here in B.C., we knew there were children who didn’t make it back home from their residential schools.   Seeing the report cuts us to the quick, and makes it all too real. In B.C., there were 22 residential schools, and 139 Indian residential schools identified within the Indian Residential School (IRS) Settlement Agreement. Our beautiful babies. 

An important part of what we do as a school, is to ensure we are part of the process of creating “informed and responsible citizens” (School District #47 Strategic Plan 2019 -2023).   We know this is distressing and difficult information to process, and if this past year and a half has taught us anything, it has taught us that we can do the difficult work, we can stick together, we can support one another and we can grow.  It is our responsibility, as individuals and educators, to know what was done to First Nation children, and to prevent it from occurring again. This week, we will take great care and remember the darling and precious souls who attended the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and the souls of all the children who were made to attend residential schools, living and passed. We will acknowledge that our postcard perfect picture of Canadian treatment of minorities is tinted with a background of abuse and neglect and we reaffirm our commitment to be vigilant. 

This week,  we will be wearing our Orange Shirts.  Orange Shirt day is a day held yearly in October and the intent is to commemorate the residential school experience, to witness and honour the healing journey of the survivors and their families, and to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation.  By nature of the recent news events, this is an important day to acknowledge our children who weren’t able to come home.