Montreal Is Commemorating The 215 Indigenous Children Found Buried At A Residential School

Nakuset, director of the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal, announced on Twitter that a "commemorative drumming" will be held at Parc Jeanne-Mance at 7 p.m. in memory of the 215 Indigenous children whose remains were found buried at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced the discovery on Thursday.

The Indian Residential School Survivors Society Emergency Crisis Line is available across Canada 24/7. Those who may need support can call 1-866-925-4419.

"We had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify. To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths," stated Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir in a news release.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante announced Sunday that the city will lower its flags to "show [its] support for the community" following the discovery. She said the city council will also issue "a statement of support."

According to Indigenous Foundations at the University of British Columbia, residential schools were "set up by the Canadian government and administered by churches" with the "objectives of indoctrinating" Indigenous children "into Euro-Canadian and Christian ways of living and assimilating them into mainstream white Canadian society."

"The system forcibly separated children from their families for extended periods of time and forbade them to acknowledge their Indigenous heritage and culture or to speak their own languages."