As Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation takes the first steps to tackle the idea of identifying the children buried at the former Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia, a forensic anthropologist says it will be a process that needs to be handled carefully.
Elena Pilli, a forensic anthropologist, led a team in Rome to identify the remains of 335 victims of a Nazi massacre 70 years after they were discarded in a mass grave known as Fosse Ardeatine.
“The difficulty is connected with the nature of the bones because the biological material in the bones is highly degraded,” Pilli told CTV National News' Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme.
Using DNA samples and historical records, they slowly found a family match for all but a few.
Pilli says it was only through identification that loved ones could truly rest in dignity.
This type of slow and scientific excavation could help identify the children near Kamloops.
Unmarked graves were discovered by ground-penetrating radar on the grounds of the former Kamloops Residential School, the largest run by the Catholic Church, which opened in 1890.
In the ten months following, almost 2,000 more unconfirmed graves were detected across Canada, with only a small portion of residential schools searched thus far.
CTV National News' Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme interviews Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation Chief Rosanne Casimir in Rome. (CTV National News)
“In the beginning there was [a call for] exhumation, right away. Now they [want] to work toward steps and they want to do what is right and they do want to have answers,” Kukpi7 Chief Rosanne Casimir of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation in British Columbia told CTV National News' Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme.
“We're looking at the weather, we're looking at the conditions and being able to progress with that much needed work that needs to take place,” Casimir said.
Casimir says it’s a huge responsibility weighing on her mind as she prepares to explain the horrors of residential schools to the Pope on Thursday.
She plans to invite the Pope to Canada to apologize for the church's involvement in Canada's residential schools system.
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