Longtime Nuu-chah-nulth leader and Residential School survivor Cliff Atleo says he’s not surprised by the discovery of the remains in Kamloops, which has reopened wounds of thousands of survivors and their children.
“For me it was not unexpected, but still it had that tremendous shock,” he said. “When this news came out it was very evident how much healing our people still need, because it was like reopening wounds that hadn’t healed yet.”
He says the Government of Canada needs to fund more research about what happened at the Alberni Indian Residential School, and all Residential School sites across the country.
He said the experience of those who attended residential schools was nothing short of traumatic.
“These are stories that have been there for a long time that many of our people knew and have not had the chance to really deal with it,” he said. “Even now there’s people who can’t talk about the stuff that happened to them; that is tremendous trauma.”
Atleo said the Government of Canada has to begin addressing the multigenerational effects that their residential school system continues to have on Indigenous people and communities.
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