Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory will be remembering those who lost their lives at a residential school in British Columbia.
Chief R Don Maracle says shortly after 2:00 p.m. Monday, the bells of Christ Church Royal Chapel will ring 215 times, one for each person buried at a Kamloops Residential School.
“It’s only the tip of the iceberg. The same situation exists right across the country, where there were residential schools. Just one of the many dark chapters of Canada’s history and its relationship with the original people of this land, the Indigenous People.”
Maracle says this is not something that only affects First Nations out west.
“The children of the families who lost people in the residential schools. I know it does affect my family. My grandfather’s sister passed away there and her body was never returned.”
The Band Council office in Tyendinaga will see flags lowered to half mast, and at the church, shoes will be placed on the front steps in solidarity with others coast to coast.
MORE ON THE DISCOVERY BELOW
Assembly of First Nations regional Chief Terry Teegee says the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, BC sheds more light on Canada’s dark history with the institutions.
Teegee says “it resurfaces the issue of residential schools and the wounds from this legacy of genocide towards Indigenous people.”
Plans are being made to identify and return the remains home in an effort to eventually tell the stories of the children and bring peace to their families.
The remains, including some children as young as three years old, were confirmed last weekend with the help of ground-penetrating radar.
