Talk:Canadian Indian residential school gravesites

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Moved, 27 June 2021, from 2021 Canadian Indian residential schools gravesite discoveries to Canadian Indian residential schools gravesite discoveries, see discussion.
Moved to Canadian Indian residential school gravesites, 4 July 2021, from Canadian Indian residential schools gravesite discoveries to Canadian Indian residential schools gravesites, see discussion.

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removed text from Kamloops section, sketchy sources again

As of May 2024, investigations into the reported mass graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia have ended with no conclusive evidence of such graves.^[1] Despite significant resources invested in various investigative efforts, including fieldwork, archival searches, and securing the school site, no human remains have been found. Carolane Gratton, spokesperson for the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations confirmed the allocation of $7.9 million for these endeavors. In a statement, the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation reiterated their focus on the scientific work required but declined to discuss the $7.9 million allocation.^[2]

References

^ "Kamloops Indian Residential School Mass Graves: No Bodies Found Despite $8 Million Probe". Times Now. 2024-05-12. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
^ Services, Western Standard News (2024-05-09). "No bodies found after spending $8 million searching for bodies at Kamloops Residential School". Western Standard. Retrieved 2024-06-03.

"Mass Graves"

The article seems silent on the misleading nature of the initial media coverage that has since been walked back.

In 2021, the media announced the discovery of "mass graves" at residential schools based on ground-penetrating radar. Like the article says, some unmarked graves were found (some of which were known to exist, but just unmarked), but the initial media narrative was that thousands of children were found in mass pit graves. Some of the underground anomalies then turned out not to be bodies at all. A lot of "denialism" is fuelled by people denying this initial mischaracterization of the graves rather than denying that Residential Schools were terrible. And this article does a good job of stating accurately that they are "unmarked graves." I think the article is just incomplete without a discussion of how the narrative has been walked back - there wasn't a firestorm in 2021 because we were told there were unmarked graveyards at Residential Schools, there was one because we were told there were "mass graves"! I'd be happy to offer sources, but also this page seems contentious, so I wanted to ask for thoughts before editing. 2605:8D80:560:3AA1:79E7:45E3:629F:ADD (talk) 12:49, 19 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have a reliable source that describes this transition in narrative? I have seen similar statements in opinion pieces written for sources that are generally not reliable, but have yet to see RS coverage of this narrative. ~ Pbritti (talk) 18:30, 19 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

[1] "Kamloops Indian Residential School Mass Graves: No Bodies Found Despite $8 Million Probe". Times Now. 2024-05-12. Retrieved 2024-06-03.

[2] Services, Western Standard News (2024-05-09). "No bodies found after spending $8 million searching for bodies at Kamloops Residential School". Western Standard. Retrieved 2024-06-03.

[1]

[2]