Tk’emlups sets date for Trudeau to visit; calls his silence on invitation to ceremony an “insult”

TK’EMLUPS — Leadership at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc say they have chosen a date for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to visit, but are calling his silence since the band’s announcement related to unmarked graves an “insult.”

In a news release, the Tkemlúps confirms it sent two letters of invitation to Trudeau to attend a ceremony planned for the first ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation last Thursday (Sept. 30). Trudeau did not respond to those letters, nor did he record remarks to be played at the ceremony.

Tk’emlúps says the “lack of response to our invitations was an added insult, as he never extended his personal hand of sympathy to our community once he heard the official announcement on May 27, 2021.”

That was the date Tk’emlúps announced it had confirmed the existence of 215 unmarked graves, believed to contain the remains of children who had attended the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

The nation is calling on the federal government to fund an Indigenous healing centre as a step toward reconciliation.

It says it has selected a date for a visit from those provided by the prime minister’s office. The date is not disclosed, though the nation says it will be “later this month.”

Tk’emlúps says Trudeau needs to “witness and recognize our collective history and be part of the solution by visiting Tk’emlúps, meeting with Survivors, and hearing them speak their truths about Indian Residential Schools.”