File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Residential Schools

Tk’emlups chief and council express support for Cowessess First Nation after unmarked grave discovery

Jun 24, 2021 | 4:24 PM

TK’EMLUPS — The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc have expressed solidarity with the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan after Thursday’s (June 24) announcement of hundreds of unmarked graves found near a former residential school there.

Thursday morning, Cowessess Chief Cadmus Delorme revealed the community had identified 751 unmarked graves near the former Marieval Indian Residential School.

The announcement came four weeks after a similar one made by Tk’emlups Chief Rosanne Casimir regarding 215 suspected children’s graves identified by ground-penetrating radar.

In a news release issued Thursday afternoon, Tk’emlups chief and council “openly acknowledge the horrific truth that Cowessess First Nation, survivors and intergenerational survivors of the former Marieval Indian Residential School are grappling with.”

The release says Tk’emlups will stand with the Cowessess community in mourning and will keep the community as “part of our prayers and ceremonies.”

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It adds a significant announcement pertaining to the Kamloops Indian Residential School findings will be made in the near future.

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For more information:

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

Support Resources:

KUU-US Crisis Line: 1-800-588-8717

Tsow-Tun-Le Lum: 1-866-403-3123

Indian Residential School Survivors Society Toll-Free Line: 1-800-721-0066

24hr National Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419