乌鸦传媒淚f there are stories to be told, let people talk.乌鸦传媒�

That was part of Splatsin Chief Wayne Christian乌鸦传媒檚 message after the remains of 215 Indigenous children were found at the former site of a Kamloops residential school.

The discovery is a stark reminder that the residential school system in Canada was in place as recently as 1996, and that while many of its survivors are living in First Nations across the country, many others did not survive.

On Thursday the Tk乌鸦传媒檈ml煤ps te Secw茅pemc First Nation said new technology allowed for the discovery of the burial site, and forensic experts are continuing work to identify the individual children.

That work could eventually lead to the repatriation of those children to their communities and families, but right now, Kukpi7 Christian says it乌鸦传媒檚 time to offer support to those in the community still reeling from the 乌鸦传媒渦nimaginable and horrific乌鸦传媒� news.

乌鸦传媒淔or those of you who went to the residential school and are survivors, I want to really ask you to think about the support you may need,乌鸦传媒� he said in a video shared with the public Friday.

乌鸦传媒淏ecause it really is about you 乌鸦传媒� you survived that horror, and it乌鸦传媒檚 important that you get what you need. And I know that many people (have) parents, grandparents, aunties or uncles or siblings that attended this school, or what they called a school.乌鸦传媒�

Some may want words of encouragement; others may want to tell their own story.

乌鸦传媒淟et them let it out, because a lot of people still won乌鸦传媒檛 talk about the horrors that took place here. A lot of people were not believed that there were actually burials at this place,乌鸦传媒� Christian said. 乌鸦传媒淭his confirms what our people have always said.乌鸦传媒�

The Splatsin chief said news of the discovery 乌鸦传媒渒nocked me off my stride for a while,乌鸦传媒� and he乌鸦传媒檚 still reeling. He said it乌鸦传媒檚 hard to explain the anger chiefs are feeling right now.

乌鸦传媒�(We) want to hold the governments accountable, but also the church, for what happened to the little ones.乌鸦传媒�

Christian has been working with other chiefs to organize a ceremony within the Tk乌鸦传媒檈ml煤ps te Secw茅pemc first, and then to all First Nations.

The band is also working around the challenge of coming together in mourning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e trying to do as much as we can to get our people together physically, to mourn the death of these 215 babies,乌鸦传媒� Christian said.

乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e in the midst of COVID and it makes it even more difficult because we乌鸦传媒檙e trying to find out, how do we do this? And I乌鸦传媒檓 sure that a lot of communities haven乌鸦传媒檛 had our second vaccination yet 乌鸦传媒� so we乌鸦传媒檙e trying to accelerate that process.乌鸦传媒�

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