Statement On Discovery Of Unmarked Indigenous Graves At Former Residential School Sites

Like many others, we are saddened and outraged by the discovery of the remains of 215 Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nations children last month, and of the even more recent discovery of the remains of 751 people by the Cowessess First Nations.

We’re mourning all the victims of residential schools, and those who have lost their lives to the violence of settler colonialism.

While this piece of Canadian history and culture is indeed an ugly one, it’s irresponsible and frankly insulting that many are treating this as a “troubling chapter” in our history, while it’s clear that colonization is still ongoing and has lasting effects on Indigenous communities, with colonial violence causing damage that spans generations and continues to create harm.

We are continuing to examine what our role is in reconciliation; how we can be a better ally and actively fight back against anti-Indigenous racism, how we can contribute to reconciliation in the context of our own work as a healthcare agency, and how we can offer our support and resources to Indigenous youth who are feeling the lasting effects of the ongoing legacy of violence and intentional harm to their communities.

In the meantime, we’ve put together a list of resources available to Indigenous youth. If you or someone you know need support, please check out these organizations:

We Matter (wemattercampaign.org/toolkits/youth)

ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency (enagb-iya.ca/)

Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto (http://www.nwrct.ca/programs/youth/)

Native Child & Family Services of Toronto (www.nativechild.org/youth/)

Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (ofifc.org/)

Indian Residential School Survivors and Family Crisis Line
1-866-925-4419 | www.irsss.ca/faqs/how-do-i-reach-the-24-hour-crisis-line

Kids Help Phone
Indigenous Youth (up to 29 years old) can connect with an Indigenous volunteer crisis responder by messaging FIRST NATIONS, INUIT or METIS over text or messenger.
Text 686868 | www.facebook.com/CrisisTextLinepoweredbyKidsHelpPhone/

Talk4Healing
For Indigenous women.
call or text: 1-888-200-9997 | online chat: www.talk4healing.com/

Hope for Wellness
phone: 1-855-242-3310 | online chat: www.hopeforwellness.ca/

This post was last updated at 4 pm on June 24th, 2021.