Kamloops Indian Residential School

We fact-checked residential school denialists and debunked their 'mass grave hoax' theory

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
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Recently a politician from a village in Prince Edward Island displayed an offensive sign on his property in which he proclaimed there is a “mass grave hoax” regarding the former Indian Residential Schools in Canada.

Key Points: 
  • Recently a politician from a village in Prince Edward Island displayed an offensive sign on his property in which he proclaimed there is a “mass grave hoax” regarding the former Indian Residential Schools in Canada.
  • Although many have called for him to resign, he is just one of many people who subscribe to this false theory.
  • A hoax is an act intended to trick people into believing something that isn’t true.

There is no media conspiracy

    • As two settler academic researchers, we decided to investigate the claims of a media conspiracy and fact-check them against evidence.
    • To find out, we analyzed 386 news articles across five Canadian media outlets (CBC, National Post, the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and The Canadian Press) released between May 27 and Oct. 15, 2021.

‘Preliminary findings’ of ‘unmarked burials’

    • A National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Memorial Register has to date confirmed the deaths of more than 4,000 Indigenous children associated with residential schools.
    • But the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) noted its register of missing children was incomplete, partly due to a large volume of yet-to-be-examined and destroyed records.

Countering harmful misinformation

    • In the two years since, a number of commentators, priests and politicians, including the P.E.I councillor with his sign, have downplayed the harms of residential schooling — or questioned the validity, gravity and significance of the the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation’s announcement.
    • We hope that our research can contribute to this work and that our report helps to debunk the “mass grave hoax” narrative specifically.

Cherry-picked ‘evidence’

    • Myths, however, are not pure fiction; they often contain a kernel of truth that is exaggerated or misrepresented.
    • This selective representation of evidence is commonly referred to as cherry-picking, and it’s easy to see how those spreading the “mass grave hoax” narrative rely on cherry-picked evidence.
    • By September, denialists were misrepresenting the extent of media errors to push the conspiratorial “mass grave hoax” narrative online.
    • And we hope our report sparks a national conversation about how important language is when covering this issue.

Challenging Residential School denialism

    • According to Daniel Heath Justice and Sean Carleton (one of the authors of this story), residential school denialism is not the denial of the residential school system’s existence.
    • Read more:
      Truth before reconciliation: 8 ways to identify and confront Residential School denialism

      Residential school denialism, like climate change denialism or science denialism, cherry-picks evidence to fit a conspiratorial counter-narrative.

Truth before reconciliation

    • This is the strategy of disempowering and discrediting residential school denialism advocated by former TRC Chair Murray Sinclair.
    • We hope others will join us in this type of research to help Canadians learn how to identify and confront residential school denialism and support meaningful reconciliation.
    • As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said in its final report, without truth there can be no genuine reconciliation.

Canada Post issues new stamps to commemorate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
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The stamps – being released on September 28 in connection with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 – are the second issue in the annual series for the future of truth and reconciliation.

Key Points: 
  • The stamps – being released on September 28 in connection with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 – are the second issue in the annual series for the future of truth and reconciliation.
  • The stamp issue serves as a vehicle for truth about Canada's residential school system to help support the process of reconciliation and, ultimately, healing.
  • Canada Post worked closely with the Survivors Circle of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation this year on its annual Truth and Reconciliation stamp issue.
  • The Survivors Circle stressed the necessity to address the truth before Canadians can collectively work toward reconciliation.

$12.5 million announced to build new healing house in Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Kamloops, Indigenous Services Canada, Partnership, Kamloops Indian Residential School, Culture, Trust, Canadian Indian residential school system, History, Language, Government, Indigenous peoples, First Nations Health Authority, Lifting, Chairperson, Indigenous self-government in Canada, First Nations, Knowledge, Federation, Health, Survivor, Memory, Mental health, Nursing, Hospital

Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc has selected an architect to lead the construction process and will be working with the membership to create a welcoming design.

Key Points: 
  • Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc has selected an architect to lead the construction process and will be working with the membership to create a welcoming design.
  • The federal funding is in addition to previously committed funds by the FNHA toward healing initiatives at Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc.
  • Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc chose, by a community referendum, to keep the Kamloops Indian Residential School building that the federal government formerly owned.
  • In partnership with Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc and Indigenous Services Canada, FNHA is pleased to fund and support the new healing house that will help to address needs for trauma-based healing.

Canadian Radio Broadcasters Join Together to Amplify Indigenous Voices with A DAY TO LISTEN, June 30

Retrieved on: 
Monday, June 21, 2021
Articles, Musicians, Chanie Wenjack, Ojibwe people, Canadian writers, Wenjack, Gord Downie, Canadian Indian residential school system, Kamloops Indian Residential School, Kamloops

In partnership with the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF) , A DAY TO LISTEN is dedicated to sharing stories from Indigenous leaders, residential school survivors, elders, musicians, and teachers throughout the day from 6 a.m. 6 p.m. (local time).

Key Points: 
  • In partnership with the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF) , A DAY TO LISTEN is dedicated to sharing stories from Indigenous leaders, residential school survivors, elders, musicians, and teachers throughout the day from 6 a.m. 6 p.m. (local time).
  • The collaboration follows the public announcement thatthe remains of 215 childrenwereburied at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
  • With more than 400 radio stations participating, spanning different markets, regions, and formats, A DAY TO LISTEN aims to leverage the power of radio to enact real change and begin to set a course for a better future.
  • "We hope that A DAY TO LISTEN, and the ongoing work that we do at DWF, begins a new chapter in our reconciliation journey so that no Canadian is ever shocked again by the horrors inflicted upon Indigenous Peoples."

Statement on the discovery around Kamloops Indian Residential School

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, May 29, 2021
Indigenous peoples of North America, First Nations, Articles, Institutional abuse, In Canada, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Canadian Indian residential school system, Kamloops Indian Residential School, Residential school

Residential schools were part of a colonial policy that removed Indigenous children from their communities.

Key Points: 
  • Residential schools were part of a colonial policy that removed Indigenous children from their communities.
  • Yesterday's news of the discovery of 215 bodies found in the area around the Kamloops Indian Residential School is once again a reminder of the harms families and Survivors have suffered and continue to suffer.
  • For immediate assistance to those who may need it, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-925-4419.
  • The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established to find the truth in our country's dark and painful history of residential schools.