{"id":72377,"date":"2021-05-31T13:50:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T17:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=72377"},"modified":"2021-05-31T22:50:44","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T02:50:44","slug":"brock-university-mourns-victims-in-kamloops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2021\/05\/brock-university-mourns-victims-in-kamloops\/","title":{"rendered":"Brock University mourns victims in Kamloops"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tan\u2019si. Kinan\u00e2skomitino\u2019wo\u2019w<\/p>\n

On Thursday, May 27, it was announced the remains of 215 Indigenous children had been discovered on the grounds of Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C. These deaths were part of the Indian residential school system that operated in Canada between the 1820s and 1996 with the purpose of assimilating Indigenous Peoples into colonial Canadian society by forcibly separating Indigenous children from their families, cultures and communities.<\/p>\n

While in the custody of these schools, many Indigenous children were subjected to shame, neglect and myriad forms of abuse including death, as evidenced by these graves. Although the Indian residential school system is commonly perceived as part of Canada\u2019s past, its negative consequences continue to be experienced by Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island. Indeed, the trauma of this announcement will reverberate amongst our communities for years to come.<\/p>\n

To honour the lives of these 215 children and pay our respects to Tk’eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc (the home community of many of the children), Brock University has lowered its flags to half-mast for 215 hours starting Monday, May 31. The Arthur Schmon Tower will also be illuminated in orange this week in honour of the lives lost.<\/p>\n

In addition to this, Brock University will continue to pursue its strategic priority of reconciliation, Indigenization and decolonization and take real action to meet the Calls for Action issued by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015. These actions are affirmed and supported by President Gervan Fearon and Vice-President and Provost Lynn Wells.<\/p>\n

In difficult times like this, people often ask what they can do to help, so I want to offer some practical suggestions:<\/p>\n