CALGARY — On May 27, 2021, the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced that ground-penetrating radar had detected the remains of an estimated 215 children buried in unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. The discovery made headlines around the world — but for Indigenous people across Canada, including thousands in Calgary and Alberta, it confirmed what they had always known.
"We told you," said Elder Doreen Spence, a residential school survivor and member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation who has lived in Calgary for four decades. "We told you for decades. Our parents told you. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission told you. Nobody listened. It took ground-penetrating radar to make Canada believe what Indigenous people have been saying since these schools existed."
What the Discovery Revealed
The Kamloops Indian Residential School operated from 1890 to 1969 under the Catholic Church, and then as a federal day school until 1978. At its peak, it was the largest institution in Canada's residential school system, housing up to 500 students — children taken from their families, often by force, and subjected to a regime designed to, in the words of the system's architects, "kill the Indian in the child."
The 215 remains found by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc included children as young as three years old. Some had been documented in school records with notes like "died of tuberculosis" or "ran away" — but their families were never notified, and no death certificates were ever issued. They were simply buried and forgotten by the institution that killed them.
In the weeks and months that followed, similar searches at former residential school sites across Canada yielded more discoveries:
- 751 unmarked graves at the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan
- 182 unmarked graves near the former St. Eugene's Mission School in Cranbrook, BC
- Hundreds more at sites across Manitoba, Ontario, and Alberta
The final count will almost certainly number in the thousands. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission documented at least 4,100 children who died in residential schools, but noted that the true number is likely much higher due to incomplete and deliberately destroyed records.
Alberta's Residential School History
Alberta was home to 25 residential schools — more than any other province. They were scattered across the territory, from the Red Deer Industrial School (one of the first in western Canada) to schools in Edmonton, Cardston, Hobbema (now Maskwacis), St. Albert, Morley, and Gleichen.
In Calgary, the city's proximity to multiple First Nations — including the Tsuut'ina Nation, Stoney Nakoda Nations, and the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai Nations of the Blackfoot Confederacy — means that residential school survivors and their descendants are woven into the fabric of the city's Indigenous community.
"Every Indigenous family in this city has been touched by residential schools," said Liam Fox, then-executive director of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary. "Every single one. The intergenerational trauma is in our families, our communities, our health outcomes, our interactions with every system — justice, child welfare, healthcare. This isn't history. This is now."
A Nation Confronts Its Past — Briefly
The response across Canada was visceral. Vigils were held in cities from coast to coast. Orange shirts appeared everywhere — the colour adopted from the story of Phyllis Webstad, whose new orange shirt was taken away on her first day at residential school. Canada Day 2021 was cancelled or reimagined in many communities, with calls to honour the lost children rather than celebrate the nation.
In Calgary, a massive vigil at Olympic Plaza drew thousands. Shoes and stuffed animals were placed on the steps of City Hall — 215 pairs of children's shoes, one for each child found at Kamloops. The Saddle Lake Cree Nation held a traditional ceremony. The flags at the Peace Bridge were lowered.
Four Catholic churches in Alberta were damaged by fire or vandalism in the weeks following the discovery — acts condemned by Indigenous leaders and political figures alike, but which underscored the depth of rage in communities that had suffered under church-run institutions for over a century.
But Indigenous leaders expressed frustration that the national outpouring of grief was not translating into meaningful action.
The Calls to Action: Promises Unkept
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued 94 Calls to Action in 2015. By mid-2021, when the Kamloops discovery renewed public attention, fewer than a dozen had been fully implemented. Key calls — including establishing a national council for reconciliation, reforming child welfare systems, and ensuring equitable funding for Indigenous education — remained unfulfilled.
"Vigils are beautiful. Orange shirts are meaningful. But you cannot reconcile with symbols," said Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. "Reconciliation requires money, legislation, and the willingness to redistribute power. And on all three of those fronts, Canada has failed."
The discovery also reignited debates about the Catholic Church's responsibility. Unlike other churches involved in the residential school system, the Catholic Church had not issued a formal apology. Pope Francis eventually delivered an apology during a visit to Maskwacis, Alberta, in July 2022 — a moment that was meaningful for some survivors and insufficient for others.
The Ongoing Search for Truth
As of 2021, searches at former residential school sites across Canada were ongoing, with First Nations communities leading the work using ground-penetrating radar and archival research. The federal government committed $321 million to support these searches and related commemoration efforts — funding that communities said was necessary but long overdue.
In Alberta, searches were planned or underway at several former school sites. The emotional toll on communities conducting these searches — knowing what they are likely to find — is immense.
"Every time the radar shows an anomaly, you think: that's someone's child. Someone's grandchild. Someone who was taken from a family that never stopped looking for them," said a researcher involved in one Alberta search who asked not to be identified. "The technical work is straightforward. The human cost of doing it is indescribable."
What Calgary Can Do
For non-Indigenous Calgarians, the residential school revelations prompted a range of responses — from genuine education and allyship to performative gestures that faded as the news cycle moved on.
Indigenous leaders in Calgary urged sustained engagement: reading the TRC report, supporting Indigenous-led organizations, advocating for policy change, and — perhaps most importantly — listening to survivors.
"Don't just cry with us in June and forget about us in September," said Elder Spence. "Learn our history. Support our organizations. Show up at City Council when Indigenous issues are on the agenda. Reconciliation is not a moment — it's a commitment. And so far, Canada has shown it's better at moments than commitments."
The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-925-4419 for survivors and those affected by residential schools.
