The discovery of the remains of 215 children at the Kamloops Residential School was shocking and heartbreaking, but it was not unexpected, sadly. There are many ways in which we can show our compassion for and support of Indigenous people in British Columbia and across Canada. Wear an orange shirt, take shoes (children’s ideally) to the Royal Bank Plaza on campus, or find some other way to show your support. Displaying children’s shoes is a visual expression of the enormous losses Indigenous people have suffered through the residential school system.
We also encourage you to write a letter to your MP demanding that the federal government fund forensic archaeological investigations of all residential school sites in Canada and that they follow through on their promise to provide clean drinking water for all indigenous communities.