‘We need forensic anthropologists:’ Ottawa professor believes Kamloops mass grave could be first of many
Posted May 31, 2021 04:05:00 PM.
An Ottawa professor says a mass grave containing the remains of 215 Indigenous children in Kamloops may be the first of many in Canada, and is calling for more help in finding the remains of other children who vanished without a trace.
With 130 residential school sites across Canada, Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa Emma Anderson says some have been preparing for a grim find like this for a while.
“Really since the 2015 [federal] Truth and Reconciliation Commission report,” she tells CityNews' The Rob Snow Show on Monday, May 31.
Anderson says more work is needed to find the other children who vanished from residential schools over the decades, likely buried in similar undocumented graves.
“It's easy for people to post things [on social media in response to this tragedy], it's easy for people to wear orange t-shirts, but what we really need is forensic anthropologists.”
NEW – Government house leader Paul Calandra says the government will work with the opposition on a bill to search the grounds of former Ontario residential schools for mass graves.
— CityNews Ottawa (@CityNewsOttawa) May 31, 2021
The professor is also calling on people with knowledge of the residential school system to come forward with information that could help track down the other undocumented graves.
“Go to local law enforcement with any information that they might remember about seeing some of these children being buried,” Anderson urges. “Anything else that could help us lead to identification and reunification of these tragically small skeletons with the people that loved them.”
Listen to the full interview with Professor Emma Anderson:
