Order of nuns that staffed B.C.’s residential schools to pass records to B.C. museum

The statement says the sisters will fund an archivist to help in the management of the process, while the museum will be responsible for allowing access to residential school survivors, their families and Indigenous communities.

Sister Marie Zarowny, president of the Sisters of Saint Ann, says they recognize access to the archives is just a single step toward reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

“Our hope is that the archive transfer and digitization will contribute toward a greater understanding of what took place in the residential school system, and the harm and trauma students experienced.”

The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc announced a year ago that suspected unmarked graves of as many as 215 children were found near the site of the former Kamloops residential school, information the chief said then was known by generations of families whose children didn’t return home from school.

The statement says the Sisters of Saint Ann provided all records related to residential schools to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2012, and it has been working with the museum since last June to provide access to its archives.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2022.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Order of nuns that staffed B.C.’s residential schools to pass records to B.C. museum

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