The recent confirmation of the burial site of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School leaves us profoundly shaken.
Members of the Department of Public Health Sciences express our deep sadness and heartfelt sympathy to the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, and other Indigenous communities across Canada who have suffered incalculable losses as a result of longstanding racist policies and colonial histories.
As researchers, educators and students in the public health sciences, we recognize the supreme injustices experienced by these children, their families, and their communities. Reports that the children at Kamloops suffered profound, and preventable, adverse health outcomes – malnutrition, starvation, abuse, and ultimately, death – are reprehensible, simply unacceptable.
We renew and confirm our commitment to advance the health of Indigenous peoples, and to embrace public health agendas based on the principles of justice and health equity.