B.C. Catholic archdioceses and First Nation to sign 'sacred covenant' on Easter Sunday

The Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc will sign what is being hailed as a "sacred covenant" with the Roman Catholic archdioceses of Vancouver and Kamloops in a ceremony to take place on Easter Sunday.

The signing will be preceded by a visit to the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School where the First Nation continues to investigate the discovery of 215 possible unmarked graves.

“To bring justice to the children who never made it home is to be able to identify who they are, bringing peace to the families and truth about the children’s passing,” said Kúkpi7 Rosanne Casimir of the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc.

The sacred covenant will outline the historical record, establish what the parties call shared truths and contain commitments to action in the future.

Those commitments include identifying ways to memorialize the missing children and a full and transparent sharing of information that could help identify them, including archives and records.

“We wish to journey with the people of the Tk̓emlúps Nation on a path to greater healing, more understanding and increased respect,” said Archbishop J. Michael Miller of the Vancouver archdiocese.

The signing ceremony will not be open to the media or the public, and the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc say that is in part because some past events have been disrupted by so-called residential school deniers who dispute the horrific stories detailed by survivors and documented in Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports.

During a news conference Thursday, Archbishop Miller sought to distance the church from those who don’t believe the residential school system inflicted significant harm on Indigenous children, their families, and their descendants who continue to live with intergenerational trauma.

“The church has been pretty clear, very clear in fact, about the tragedy of the residential school system, the degree to which the Catholic parties collaborated, and there’s no question that this was a tragedy in the past,” he said. “And those who claim that it wasn’t, I think, are certainly misplaced in their judgement.”

As the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc continue to investigate the possible unmarked graves, Archbishop Miller said the archdiocese has made available all records in its possession in an effort to help identify the missing students.

However, he acknowledged there are records outside Vancouver, beyond his purview, that have not been made available.

“It is certainly our desire that all records be shared. There is nothing to be gained by not sharing records completely,” Archbishop Miller said.

He went on to say it is his understanding that other archdioceses within Canada are eager and willing to share records in their possession but he could not say whether that would include any records kept at the Vatican.

In the nearly three years since the initial announcement of the possible unmarked graves in May of 2021, there have been many questions about why the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc have not begun an excavation in an effort to confirm the existence of children’s bodies.

Kúkpi7 Casimir has not ruled out a possible exhumation of any potential human remains but said that is something that would need to include conversations with residential school survivors, the people of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc and other First Nations whose children were forcibly removed to attend the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

“We have not started excavation,” said Kúkpi7 Casimir. “That is a very sensitive step moving forward.”