B.C. First Nation, Catholic Church announce ’sacred covenant’

Article content

KAMLOOPS — Vancouver’s Catholic Archbishop says a “sacred covenant” agreement has been reached with the First Nation in Kamloops that announced the discovery the remains of more than 200 children at the site of a former residential school.

Archbishop J. Michael Miller of the Catholic archdiocese of Vancouver says the agreement with the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc will open a “new chapter” in the relationship between the church and First Nations in B.C.

Article content

Miller says the church recognizes its complicity in the Canadian government’s colonialist policies toward First Nations and the “resulting tragedies” from the residential school system.

Chief Rosanne Casimir of Tk’emlups te Secwepemc says the covenant will see the church share records and information as the nation continues to investigate the site of a former Kamloops Indian Residential School where hundreds of children went missing.

The nation announced in May 2021 that a search around the former school site using ground-penetrating radar found the unmarked burial sites of the remains of more than 200 children who were students at the school.

The Nation and the archdiocese say the agreement includes commitments from the church on how to properly memorialize residential school survivors, information sharing about missing children and to offer “healing services” to family members of those who attended the school.

Recommended from Editorial

Residential school deaths are significantly higher than previously reported

Kamloops Indian Residential School on new Canada Post stamp collection

Anguish comes flooding back as Stó:lō unveil residential school findings

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.

Share this article in your social network