The remains of about 215 children were discovered buried near a school meant for First Nations students in Canada.
With the help of ground-penetrating radar technology, the remains were discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Kukpi Chief Rosanne Casimir announced Thursday.
“We had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify. To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,” Casimir said in a statement. “Some were as young as three years old. We sought out a way to confirm that knowing out of deepest respect and love for those lost children and their families, understanding that Tk’emlups te Secwepemc is the final resting place of these children.”
Lisa Lapointe, the chief coroner of British Columbia, said: “We are early in the process of gathering information and will continue to work collaboratively with the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc and others as this sensitive work progresses.”
“We recognize the tragic, heartbreaking devastation that the Canadian residential school system has inflicted upon so many, and our thoughts are with all of those who are in mourning today,” she added.
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Nearly 150,000 First Nations children living in Canada from 1883 to 1996 were often forced into government-funded, church-run schools that worked to assimilate them, according to the Washington Post. Many of those students never returned home.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has identified the names of, or information about, more than 4,100 children who died while attending a residential school.
