What was the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc unmarked-graves announcement?

On May 27, 2021 the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation announced that ground-penetrating radar had detected 215 potential unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School site in British Columbia. The announcement triggered nationwide grief, similar announcements at other former residential school sites across Canada, and renewed federal commitments to residential-schools-related work. The Tk'emlups announcement was a watershed moment in Canadian consciousness about the residential schools system and produced widespread changes including the creation of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30, 2021).

The Kamloops Indian Residential School operated from 1890 to 1969 (under federal and Roman Catholic Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate administration) and from 1969 to 1978 (as a federal residence). At its peak in the 1950s, it housed about 500 students and was the largest residential school in Canada. Tk'emlups te Secwepemc Chief Rosanne Casimir announced the detection of 215 sets of remains by ground-penetrating radar in apparent unmarked graves at the school grounds. The announcement was the result of an investigation begun in 2020 by the Tk'emlups community.

The announcement triggered widespread Canadian responses. Flags on federal and provincial buildings were lowered to half-mast for several months. The federal government committed an additional 320 million dollars on August 10, 2021 for Indigenous-led searches at other former residential schools. Similar searches and announcements followed at the Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan (Cowessess First Nation, June 24, 2021, 751 unmarked graves), the St. Eugene's Mission School in British Columbia (?aq'am First Nation, June 30, 2021, 182 unmarked graves), the Brandon Indian Residential School in Manitoba, the Muskowekwan Residential School in Saskatchewan, and dozens of other sites. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission had estimated about 4,000 to 6,000 residential school deaths in its 2015 report; the post-2021 unmarked-graves announcements suggest the actual death toll may be substantially higher.

The federal government's response included the September 29, 2021 introduction of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Act (Bill C-5) creating a federal statutory holiday on September 30 (the first day of school in many residential school traditions, called Orange Shirt Day since 2013); the appointment of Mary Simon as Governor General on July 26, 2021 (the first Indigenous Governor General); and the May 31, 2022 federal Distinctions-Based Indigenous Children's Day Schools Settlement Agreement. The Pope's April 1, 2022 Vatican apology and his July 24 to 29, 2022 Canadian pilgrimage were specifically responses to the post-Tk'emlups context. The Tk'emlups announcement is widely regarded as a major turning point in Canadian public consciousness about Indigenous-Canadian history.