Inaugural National Gathering on Unmarked Graves concludes in Edmonton, Alberta

EDMONTON, AB, Sept. 14, 2022 /CNW/ - Today marked the conclusion of the first National Gathering on Unmarked Graves: Supporting the Search and Recovery of Missing Children, organized by the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools.

Over 350 individuals registered to participate in the three-day inaugural National Gathering, which took place in Treaty 6 Territory. Attendees included Indian Residential School Survivors, families, Elders, national and regional Indigenous leaders, community members, experts, dignitaries, federal government and Church representatives. The Gathering provided an important forum for knowledge sharing on the barriers and best practices for searching, protecting and preserving unmarked burials on former Indian Residential School grounds and associated sites.

Presentations were provided by Survivors of Indian Residential Schools, Indigenous communities leading this work across Canada, and experts in international law and mass burial repatriation efforts. The Gathering closed with federal government officials and Church representatives responding to what they heard over the course of the event and outlining their future plans to support the recovery of the missing children.

The Sacred work that Survivors, Indigenous families and communities have been leading to recover the missing children across Canada has revealed an urgent need for legislative, regulatory, and policy protections of former Indian Residential School sites. There are significant gaps in legal protections at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels to protect the sites pending searches and investigations, and from further development. In addition, there are barriers for Survivors and Indigenous communities leading this work to access relevant records to help locate and identify the missing children. Finally, there are questions about whether law reform or other measures are needed to support death investigations and, where appropriate, criminal prosecutions. The Gathering provided an opportunity to discuss these important issues and questions.

This National Gathering was the first of many planned to take place across Canada over the next two years. These Gatherings will support Independent Special Interlocutor Kimberly Murray's mandate to engage with Survivors, families, communities, First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments, and other representative organizations to discuss issues of concern around the identification, preservation, and protection of unmarked graves and burial sites, including the potential repatriation of remains.

Quote

"The first National Gathering on Unmarked Burials in Treaty 6 Territory provided an opportunity for Survivors, Indigenous families and communities to share knowledge about their efforts to search for and recover the missing children who were never returned home from Indian Residential Schools. At the Gathering, Survivors and communities listened and shared with one another. I heard from Survivors, families and communities about their deep commitment to continue this Sacred work of searching for the truth about what happened to the missing children, to locate their burials, and determine how to honour, respect and bring dignity to their spirits and help them journey home to their ancestors."

Kimberly Murray, BA, LL.B, IPC
Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves associated with Indian Residential Schools

Additional information

• The next National Gathering is being planned for November 2022 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  
  
• On June 8, 2022, Kimberly R. Murray was appointed as Independent Special Interlocutor for Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools. Her two-year mandate will be carried out from June 14, 2022 to June 13, 2024.
  
  
• The Independent Special Interlocutor will provide a three-month update on her work and engagement to the federal Minister of Justice in October 2022.
  
  
• The Independent Special Interlocutor will deliver an interim report in June 2023 and a final report in June 2024. These reports will be delivered concurrently to the Minister of Justice and to First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, Survivors and families.

About us 

Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools

The Special Interlocutor functions independently and impartially, in a non-partisan and transparent manner to achieve the objectives of her mandate that includes identifying needed measures for a new federal legal framework to ensure the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment of unmarked graves and burial sites of children associated with former Indian Residential Schools. The Special Interlocutor has a two-year mandate and will deliver interim and final reports, with recommendations, to the federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

For more information about the Independent Special Interlocutor and her mandate, please visit: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/interlocutor-interlocuteur/mtr-mcr.htm

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SOURCE Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools

Office of the Special Interlocutor: [email protected]