{"id":105090,"date":"2026-05-26T08:42:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=105090"},"modified":"2026-05-26T08:42:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:42:17","slug":"first-nations-decry-denialism-on-anniversary-of-suspected-graves-found-at-b-c-site-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/first-nations-decry-denialism-on-anniversary-of-suspected-graves-found-at-b-c-site-2\/","title":{"rendered":"First Nations decry denialism on anniversary of suspected graves found at B.C. site"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Brieanna Charlebois Almost five years ago, the monument in front of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School was surrounded by flowers, cards, soft toys and other mementoes, echoing grief that had swept across Canada. On May 27, 2021, the Tkeml\u00faps te Secwepemc First Nation had announced that ground-penetrating radar had found more the 200 suspected children&#8217;s&#8217; graves on the grounds of the school. Now, a lone bouquet lays in front of the memorial, amid ongoing soul-searching, and what some First Nations leaders say is a wave of denialism about Indigenous suffering in residential schools. Robert Phillips, the political executive with the First Nations Summit, said he remembers the announcement vividly, calling it a &#8220;shocking discovery&#8221; for First Nations, Canadians and for people around the world. &#8220;From that, people wanted&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F26%2Ffirst-nations-decry-denialism-on-anniversary-of-suspected-graves-found-at-b-c-site-2%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Brieanna Charlebois Almost five years ago, the monument in front of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School was surrounded by flowers, cards, soft toys and other mementoes, echoing grief that had swept across Canada. On May 27, 2021, the Tkeml\u00faps te Secwepemc First Nation had announced that ground-penetrating radar had found more the 200 suspected children&#8217;s&#8217; graves on the grounds of the school. Now, a lone bouquet lays in front of the memorial, amid ongoing soul-searching, and what some First Nations leaders say is a wave of denialism about Indigenous suffering in residential schools. Robert Phillips, the political executive with the First Nations Summit, said he remembers the announcement vividly, calling it a &#8220;shocking discovery&#8221; for First Nations, Canadians and for people around the world. &#8220;From that, people wanted... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F26%2Ffirst-nations-decry-denialism-on-anniversary-of-suspected-graves-found-at-b-c-site-2%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>First Nations decry denialism on anniversary of suspected graves found at B.C. site - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/first-nations-decry-denialism-on-anniversary-of-suspected-graves-found-at-b-c-site-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First Nations decry denialism on anniversary of suspected graves found at B.C. site - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brieanna Charlebois Almost five years ago, the monument in front of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School was surrounded by flowers, cards, soft toys and other mementoes, echoing grief that had swept across Canada. On May 27, 2021, the Tkeml\u00faps te Secwepemc First Nation had announced that ground-penetrating radar had found more the 200 suspected children&#8217;s&#8217; graves on the grounds of the school. Now, a lone bouquet lays in front of the memorial, amid ongoing soul-searching, and what some First Nations leaders say is a wave of denialism about Indigenous suffering in residential schools. 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