The remains of 215 children were discovered at the site of a former residential school for indigenous children. The discovery was regarded as heartbreaking by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The children were pupils at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia that shut down in 1978. The remains were found with the aid of a ground-penetrating radar specialist.

According to Rosanne Casimir, chief of the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc, in a statement, "We had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify. To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths," reported The Guardian.

Casimir remarked that some of them were as young as three years old. She called it an "unthinkable loss" that was spoken about but was not documented by school administrators. She added the preliminary findings are slated to be issued in a report in August, reported Channel News Asia.

Thousands of Indigenous Children Were Sent to the School

According to Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc, their language and culture department supervised the project of hiring a specialist in ground-penetrating radar to uncover the remains of 215 children to affirm it was executed in a respectful and culturally appropriate way. The statement did not determine the individual or company involved or how the work was completed.

They sought a way to confirm the "knowing," as mentioned by Casimir, out of deepest respect and love for such lost children and their families. They also recognized that Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc is the last resting place of such children, reported CBC.

The Kamloops school was situated over 200 miles, or 350 kilometers, from Vancouver. It was the largest school in the Indian Affairs residential school system. It was where thousands of Indigenous children were sent in the 19th and 20th centuries. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, large numbers of indigenous children did not return from the schools. The project was initiated in response to a lawsuit to probe into the devastating history of the school system.

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According to Casimir, they currently have more questions than answers. The causes and timing of the children's death have yet to be known.

Established in 1890, the Kamloops Indian residential school was under the leadership of the Roman Catholic church. It was shut down in 1978. It was also part of a cross-Canada network of residential schools created to forcibly assimilate indigenous children by removing them from their houses and communities. They were forbidden to perform cultural practices and speak their native languages.

The tribe is working with museums and the coroner to shed more light on the heartbreaking discovery and record the fatalities. The tribe is also reaching out to the home communities of the pupils throughout British Columbia and beyond.

Casimir said the findings are "preliminary." On Friday, she said community members remain "grappling" with being stunned by the news as leadership seeks steps to set forth.

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