WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Justice Minister David Lametti on Wednesday announced the appointment of a special interlocutor to coordinate the government’s response to the unmarked graves that have been identified in a number of former residential centers.
Lametti has called on Kimberly Murray, a Mohawk woman from Kanehsatake in Quebec, to lead these efforts for the next two years.
Murray comes to work with experience in this type of work because, for the past year, he has been overseeing an investigation into deaths at the former Mohawk Institute residential school near Brantford, Ont.
Murray has also been the first Deputy Attorney General of Aboriginal Justice in Ontario. Prior to that, Murray served as executive director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, where she worked to ensure that the stories of survivors of the residential school system were heard and remembered.
As an interlocutor, Murray’s job will be to work with Indigenous communities to develop some recommendations to strengthen federal laws and practices regarding unmarked burial sites.
Kimberly Murray speaks after being appointed as an independent special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with Indian residential schools, at a press conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (Justin Tang / Canadian Press)
Murray will also work with First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments, representative organizations, communities, survivors and families on issues such as the identification of graves and the possible repatriation of remains.
Honoring memories of “kids who never got home”
The intention is to strengthen efforts to protect and preserve these places, which are believed to be the resting place of hundreds of indigenous children who attended church and state institutions in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Murray said she was “honored” and “humiliated” to be nominated for the job, which will see her work with communities to “protect, locate, identify, repatriate and commemorate children who died while Indian residential schools were forced to attend. “
“I commit to doing this work using my heart and mind in a way that honors the memories of children who never came home,” he said.
TARGET | 190 radar anomalies found near Manitoba residential school:
Sagkeeng First Nation finds 190 radar anomalies at the residential school site
A search of a former Manitoba residential school site has uncovered what the head of the First Nation describes as “anomalies” that could be unmarked burial sites, although their true nature is still unclear. .
It is a topic that came to the forefront of the national agenda last summer after the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said that the preliminary findings of a radar survey on the grounds of the former Indian residential school of Kamloops indicated that up to 215 children could be buried. the place.
In June 2021, the First Sessatchewan Cowessess First Nation also announced a preliminary finding of 751 unmarked graves near its former residential school.
Lametti said the identification of unmarked graves “has made us reflect on the history of Canada and the truth of this troubling past.”
“This work will be an important exercise in confidence that will help communities move forward, find care for families and survivors, and push us all toward a fairer framework to honor the memory of Indigenous children who never returned home from residential centers. “. He said.
“Very heavy on the heart”
Kúkpi7 (chief) Rosanne Casimir of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and Chief Cadmus Delorme of the First Cowessess Nation were present for the announcement on Wednesday.
“We are very pleased to know the appointment,” Casimir said.
“We have taken a lot of responsibility for caring for the unmarked graves and we have taken steps to find out how many children there were, who they were, the communities they came from, how they died and how they ended up being buried here.”
He noted that, as so many indigenous communities are launching similar research, it is “vital work that will take time and resources.”
On the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery are soaked, weather-resistant toys as a memorial to children who died in residential schools. (CBC)
Delorme said validating the unmarked graves is a “very heavy journey for the heart,” but that it “enlightens children who never got home.”
He said Murray’s appointment will ensure that government attention is not diminished as communities continue to work to learn more about the unmarked graves that dot the country.
“Some survivors are calling for justice. Some survivors want to make sure something is really done about it,” Delorme said.
“This special interlocutor position will focus on making sure that all doors are open when it comes to investigation, when it comes to documents, when it comes to working with the justice system to see if justice can really be done. for the mistakes that have been made, “Delorme said.
The interlocutor will recommend a new federal legal framework
According to an information document provided to reporters by Lametti’s office, Murray will identify “the necessary measures and recommend a new federal legal framework” that will help “preserve the dignity of the burial sites of indigenous peoples.”
The interlocutor will also help determine who is responsible for maintaining the unmarked burials, with the goal of respecting the “wishes and traditions of the communities and families” associated with these graves.
The interlocutor will also “facilitate dialogue” with the provinces and territories and other relevant institutions, including the churches that administered some of the residential schools before the federal takeover of most of the facilities in the 1960s.
In the last federal budget, the government allocated $ 209.8 million over five years to help Indigenous communities document, locate and commemorate burial sites in former residential schools.
The government has also allocated funds to pay for programs that provide essential mental, cultural, and emotional health services to help communities recover from intergenerational trauma.
A national crisis line of Indian residential schools has been set up to support alumni and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the National Crisis Line 24 hours a day: 1-866-925-4419.