Kamloops Indian Residential School designated a national historic site

Warning: This story contains distressing details. If you require emotional support, please contact the 24-hour Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419.

On Wednesday, Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc and Parks Canada announced the Kamloops Indian Residential School has been named a National Historic Site.

The building was nominated by Tk̓emlúps in an effort to commemorate the ongoing legacy and history of the site. The Kamloops Indian Residential School was the largest institution that was vehicle for what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called “cultural genocide.” 

Children ages four to 18 attended the school from over 108 communities and at least 38 Indigenous nations, according to a press release. Those children were forcibly removed from their homes and experienced neglect, abuse and malnutrition, among other horrors. 

The Kamloops Indian Residential School made national headlines four years ago when the First Nation found 215 unmarked graves of former students on the residential school site. The findings sparked a national moment of reflection, with children’s shoes placed on churches and legislature buildings and flags flying half-mast for months. Since the discovery, First Nations have received funding to support similar searches in residential school sites across the country. 

“The designation of the Former Kamloops Indian Residential School as a site of national historic significance will serve as a testament and memorial to the children who were forced to live there and who died there,” Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault said in a press release. 

“The legacy of their stories will resonate throughout future generations,” the statement added. 

The buildings remain a fixture of Tk̓emlúps, who renamed the site to Chief Louis Centre after Clexléxqen or Petit Louis, who advocated for education that would benefit Secwépemc people. Tk̓emlúps chose to preserve the buildings over the years to teach about the impacts and realities of the residential school system on survivors and communities. Buildings like Moccasin Square Gardens, the school's old gymnasium, and now a community centre are still used today. The band office, a museum and other offices are also housed in the old residential school buildings. 

“It will serve as a place that will contribute to a greater understanding of Secwépemc history and traditional knowledge,” Casimir said in a press release. “The designation symbolizes hope and the vision of our ancestors for a prosperous future for our children, and those not yet born.”

Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative