September 2026
Re: “Some puzzling, but popular beliefs,” (Drew Hayden Taylor, The Hamilton Spectator, 12 September):
Let’s get one thing straight first off: I’m not a residential school denier. I want the truth, no matter how good or bad. Mr. Taylor presents an argument that pretty much that dismisses the idea that the anomalies found are anything other than the bodies of murdered children, even citing Occam’s Razor as justification.
There is no such thing as “my truth,” or “your truth,” or “my cultural truth.” There is only “The Truth.” The truth also doesn’t care about your feelings.
What many mistake for “their truth” is actually their interpretation. That’s not to say they are wrong, but people can perceive an event differently, even if they all saw exactly the same thing. This is why witness testimony is the most unreliable form of evidence that can be presented in a court of law. Sometimes, that’s all you have, so you go with it.
One of the things I learned very early in my career as a police officer was that the truth really doesn’t matter. It only matters what you can prove in court. Evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, is the standard for our criminal and provincial courts of law. It shouldn’t be different when it comes to what happened, or didn’t happen, at the residential schools.
There is no doubt that bad things, reprehensible things, happened at Indian Residential Schools. What is in doubt is the alleged murder and clandestine burials of Indigenous students by Priests and Nuns at these schools. Some infants were allegedly thrown into furnaces by Priests seeking to hide the rapes of students. As of today, all we actually have are “anomalies” found by ground penetrating radar (GPR). That’s it.
There have been very few excavations of these anomalies to determine if there is actually a child buried in spots identified by these anomalies, such as at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Of the sites that have been excavated, like the Pine Creek Residential School in Manitoba, nothing has been found to indicate that children were secretly murdered and buried. So, is it denialism to ask why no bodies have been found? Of course not.
Even if there are indeed bodies buried at Kamloops, that doesn’t mean they were murdered. It’s a well-documented fact that many students and adults died at the residential schools from influenza, tuberculosis, or from the many of the common diseases of the day that killed many people before our current medical advances. For a variety of reasons, some were not repatriated to their home Nations for burial. How many of those students were buried locally, in proper graves that may or may not still have a marker on the grave, along with being properly recorded in church or municipal records?
You would think that the fact that no bodies have been found would be a great relief, seeing as that could mean no children were murdered and clandestinely buried. Instead, it appears there is too much money and power involved in keeping the murder narrative going, such as the over $12 million in taxpayer money given to the Tkemlups te Secwepemc First Nation for an excavation that has not happened as of today. Why not?
We need to find if there were indeed children who were murdered and buried in unmarked graves, even if those responsible are long dead and will never see the inside of a courtroom. If no such crimes happened, then we need to stop perpetuating that narrative. I should hope that all First Nations across Canada want the truth too, regardless of whether they are university trained archeologists, or not.
Mr. Taylor asserts that these anomalies are proof that there are bodies buried at Kamloops, because those using the GPR are professionals and can’t be wrong with their interpretation. He goes on to assert that these anomalies certainly aren’t “rocks or gophers,” completely ignoring the fact that the images created the GPR units aren’t as clearly defined as an X-ray at your doctor’s office. Are they bodies, rocks, or as suggested by some, are part of an abandoned sewage system? Bottom line, we don’t know what’s under the ground until we excavate.
Like many Canadians back in 2021, I mourned the children “discovered” at Kamloops. I took my daughter to the makeshift memorial that popped up in my city. I even took the time to visit the former Spanish Residential School, west of Sudbury, where I left a note repeating a phrase I heard that touched me to my soul: “…and a small voice whispers, ‘They found us.’” I was proud to have been included in a smudging ceremony that took place while I was visiting the remains of the former school.
Now I can’t help but feel that it was all a lie. Mr. Taylor, I don’t want to tell anyone that “I told you so” and would take no pleasure in it. I just want the truth, no matter how good or bad. Do you?
If any First Nation across Canada has records of children who went to a residential school and simply vanished, I urge those Nations to speak up.
As of today, all we have are unverified allegations that have been used to incorrectly paint Canada as a genocidal nation, full of “settlers” who “stole” Indigenous land. I say it’s more important to find the truth.
