Statement on Kamloops 215 from Amelia Marchand, Conservation Northwest Board Member and member of the Colville Confederated Tribes
Conservation Northwest / Jun 02, 2021 / British Columbia, First Nations
We need to heal and learn together, lifting one another up for a better future we all deserve, one which was stolen from these 215 children…and so many others.
The following is a personal statement from Amelia Marchand, Conservation Northwest Board Member and member of the Colville Confederated Tribes.
“My heart and spirit sank when I learned of a mass grave of 215 Indigenous children which was uncovered at a former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. Though I am removed in space and time from Kamloops, this unveiling of knowledge recalled for me the history of genocide, violence, and forced assimilation that my ancestors experienced. I have inherited the struggles of my great grandparents, grandparents, and parents to survive and thrive within this colonial institution of governance.
Similarly, other First Nations, Tribal, and Indigenous peoples have felt this burden of communal grief and mourning. We are all impacted by the atrocities of the past and present. We need to heal and learn together, lifting one another up for a better future we all deserve, one which was stolen from these 215 children…and so many others. The work we do for the 12 Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is important and vital for culturally and ecologically functional systems.
The work we do is for those that came before us, and for those who will come after us. May our work nourish the spirits of the land, the spirits of our ancestors, and ourselves.”
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