Volunteers prepare food for wildfire evacuees (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: In the midst of its grief, Tk’emlups community exemplifies compassion

Jul 9, 2021 | 11:34 AM

IT’S TIME WE SIT BACK AND CONTEMPLATE the marvel that is the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc community.

Like most Indigenous communities where a residential school operated in the past, the Tk’emlups had a knowing, passed down in the oral tradition, that there was an unmarked graveyard nearby. In those graves were students who attended that school.

The knowing was incredibly painful, but Tk’emlups pushed through that pain to begin the work necessary to provide those children with the kind of remembrances and burials they deserved in the first place.

They hired the experts needed to find exactly where the graveyard is and to begin to quantify who it contains.

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On May 27, Tk’emlups became the first Indigenous community to rip the bandage off of the wound.

Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir demanded that her voice and the voice of her community would be heard by Canada. Truth before reconciliation.

The announcement sent Canada into a period of mourning and reckoning.

Gradually, other Indigenous communities followed in the path Tk’emlups forged, confirming unmarked cemeteries near their own residential school sites.

The number that began as 215 will continue to grow.

A month later, while Tk’emlups was still emotionally raw and in mourning, it began to share comfort and compassion in the wake of tragedy experienced by other communities.

Last week’s record heat dome led to an eruption of wildfires throughout our region.

Aside from the one that took out the village of Lytton, there are the Sparks Lake, McKay Creek, Durand Lake, Canim Lake and Deka Lake fires in this area — just to name a few.

All of those forced people to flee their homes. We don’t yet have a good idea how many structures have been lost in the Interior.

Enter the generous spirits of the Tk’emlups people.

Just a stone’s throw from the site of all that grief, people are being provided relief and solace, food and a place to stay. Their basic needs are being met while they agonize over what might be happening to their homes.

It’s a remarkable show of resilience and grace by a community, Tk’emlups, who could have let their grief and anger feed bitterness toward all those around them.

It’s quite a show of leadership and kindness, a positive example for us to marvel at and to follow.

Once again, Tk’emlups deserves our gratitude.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.