Trudeau visits Tk'emlups te Secwepemc Nation in Kamloops

“Today is about taking positive steps and correcting mistakes,” Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir said of the decision to invite the prime minister to speak at the ceremony honoring survivors of residential schools and missing children.

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Glenda luymes

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir speak to the media, members of the Tk’emlups te Secweepemc community and First Nations leaders at the Tk’emlups Pow wow Arbor in British Columbia, Canada, on October 18, 2021. REUTERS / Jennifer Gauthier Photo by JENNIFER GAUTHIER. /X07099

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc Nation in Kamloops for the first time on Monday after ignoring invitations to attend the National Truth and Reconciliation Day.

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After being invited to speak as part of a ceremony honoring the residential school survivors and the children who never made it home, Trudeau called the decision to travel to Tofino on Sept. 30 a “mistake.”

“I am deeply grateful to Kukpi7 Casimir for having me here today,” he said. “After September 30, he could have chosen to turn his back on me and the federal government … and yet he came over and said, ‘Please come, listen and learn, and we will walk this path together.'” .

Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir said the community was in the middle of the ceremonies on September 30 when a journalist told her that the prime minister was on vacation in Tofino.

“The shock, anger, pain and disbelief were palpable in our community,” he said.

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In this photo provided by the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (C) and Canadian Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller (R) lay flowers at a memorial outside the Kamloops Indigenous Residential School in Kamloops, United Kingdom Columbia on October 18, 2021. - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the indigenous community of Kamloops where the remains of 215 children were found in May in a former residential school. — In this photo provided by the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (C) and Canadian Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller (R) lay flowers at a memorial outside the Kamloops Indigenous Residential School in Kamloops, United Kingdom Columbia on October 18, 2021. – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the indigenous community of Kamloops where the remains of 215 children were found in May in a former residential school. Photo by ADAM SCOTTI. /Office of the Prime Minister of

Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc is calling on the Canadian government to fund a healing center in Kamloops to help survivors and intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools. They also want continued government support to ensure full and complete disclosure of records held by the Canadian government, specifically, student attendance records that were created by the institutions that administered the Kamloops Indian Residential School.

“Now is the time to commit to the long road ahead,” said Casimir. “Today is about taking positive steps and correcting mistakes.”

When asked if he thought an apology was enough, Trudeau said words matter.

“With an apology, acknowledging the harm done is an important first step toward healing, toward restitution, toward good. But it’s not just about words, it’s about actions. “

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He pledged to permanently lower the Canadian flags to half mast on September 30 and pledged to continue working together with Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc to find answers and advance the healing center.

In May, Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc Nation announced that it had found what are believed to be about 200 nameless graves at the site of a former residential school last spring.

Since then, numerous indigenous nations have reported that they have found unmarked graves in former residential schools with the same ground-penetrating radar technology used in Kamloops, prompting calls for justice that have resonated around the world.

Monday’s visit comes after Trudeau apologized to Casimir earlier this month for not accepting invitations to attend the national event marking Canada’s first National Truth and Reconciliation Day on September 30.

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He faced backlash for traveling to Tofino with his family instead of appearing at any in-person events to honor the survivors of state-sponsored residential institutions where indigenous children were separated from their families and abused.

Trudeau had spoken to some survivors by phone on September 30 and attended an event on Parliament Hill the night before.

Tḱemlúps te Secwépemc issued a statement saying it was not interested in apologies that do not lead to real change and actions to support the healing of survivors of residential schools and the revitalization of indigenous culture and languages.