Schools in Nova Scotia will lower their flags to half mast for nine days to honour the 215 children who died while attending a residential school in British Columbia.
The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation revealed the discovery of the remains in a news release on Thursday, saying the children were found in unmarked graves on the property of the former residential school in Kamloops after working with a “ground penetrating radar specialist”
The children were students at the school which was once the largest in Canada’s residential school system.
Nova Scotia Education Minister Derek Mombourquette says he hopes this tragedy will serve as a catalyst for greater reconciliation, especially through Treaty Education.
“My heart broke when I heard the news about the children in Kamloops,” said Mombourquette in a news release. “As a father, I can’t imagine the pain of those families. As a Nova Scotian and a Canadian, I know that we need to do more to fight racism and honour our commitment to reconciliation with Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq and Canada’s indigenous peoples.”
The lowered flags will also honour the memories of all the others who lost their lives in Canada’s residential schools. Meantime, flags will be lowered at municipal, provincial, and federal buildings throughout the province on Monday.
Treaty education is underway in the province’s education system as part of a Treaty Education Memorandum of Understanding that was signed between the Nova Scotia government and Mi’kmaq Chiefs in 2015.
The province says the agreement ensures treaty education is built into the curriculum of each grade to lead to a better understanding of the Mi’kmaq, treaties, relationships, and reconciliation.
The news release says the education department and the Mi’kmaq Education Services Branch will continue to work with government departments, Regional Centres for Education, Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP), teachers and principals to advance the work of treaty education and to realize the reconciliation commitments.
