Parks Canada staff privately doubted Kamloops ‘graves’ claim
Parks Canada staff privately questioned unverified claims that 215 children were buried in unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, according to newly released emails.
Parks Canada staff privately questioned unverified claims that 215 children were buried in unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, according to newly released emails.
Confidential emails from 2023 and 2024, obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, show that staff expressed concern about how the radar findings at the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc site were being characterized, particularly as “probable unmarked graves.” By 2024, managers concluded the terminology was inaccurate.
“On the question of ground penetrating radar, I wonder whether we should leave that,” wrote one Parks Canada manager. Another stated, “The challenge is that ground-penetrating radar does not provide evidence of potential unmarked graves. It provides evidence of anomalies. I am quoting the archaeologists here.”
“Staff were also advised to ‘stay extra quiet’ on the designation of the Residential School as a national historic site,” said Blacklock’s Reporter.
Despite the internal doubts, no public statement was made by the agency, even as then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the site to “pay (his) respects to the graves,” according to an earlier Blacklock’s report.
Meanwhile, documents also revealed the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation had been previously denied federal grant funding on multiple occasions. After the 2021 announcement of radar findings, however, it was designated a “priority client” and awarded over $12.1 million.
“BC First Nation repeatedly told it did not qualify for grants. After claiming 215 graves, First Nation was deemed ‘priority client’ and received more than $12.1 million. No remains have been recovered,” said Blacklock’s Reporter.
Spending records further revealed that the funds—originally meant to support exhumations and forensic work—were diverted toward communications contracts and consultants.
“$12M spent by @GcIndigenous to find purported 215 children's graves at Indian Residential School was instead spent on publicists & consultants with no graves found to date,” Blacklock’s wrote on X.
The claim of unmarked graves also triggered a wave of attacks on Christian churches across Canada that True North has catalogued.
At least 118 Christian churches have been vandalized, burned, or desecrated since 2021. The majority of the fires and attacks began shortly after the original Kamloops radar announcement.
The attacks spanned nearly every province and territory and affected both urban cathedrals and small rural chapels, many of which stood on Indigenous land and served Indigenous communities.
Multiple churches were burned to the ground within hours of each other, and in some cases, incendiary devices were used while residents were still inside. Despite the scope and frequency of the attacks—including deliberate arsons in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba—no national inquiry has been called.
The legacy media have largely downplayed the extent of the destruction, and federal authorities have yet to take coordinated action to investigate what has become one of the most severe and underreported waves of religiously targeted violence in Canadian history.
No human remains have been uncovered.
