The Town of Smithers lowered its flags to half mast to honour the 215 children whose lives were taken at the former Kamloop residential school.
The Town made the announcement in a news release issued on Monday (May 31).
According to Smithers Mayor Gladys Atrill she is aware of impromptu memorials including shoes being placed at Central Park.
She says she feels deeply saddened about the discoveries.
“The thought of children and young people buried that way is somehow more troubling, it kind of rocks us to our core and coupled with the story of residential schools across Canada just it makes the whole thing sadder,” Atrill said.
She added it wouldn’t be surprising to discover that there are more unmarked graves in different parts of the province and the country.
Atrill also called the discoveries disturbing.
“We have a lot to do as residents of this country and community to figure out what exactly happened and what do we do to move forward? I think it’s a really big question,” she said.
“There’s work to be done on all levels of government and there’s work to be done among citizens and how we learn about each other, acknowledge what has happened in the past and figure out together, what do we do now?” Atrill also said.
The flags are expected to be lowered until further notice.
Meanwhile, the District of Houston and the Village of Telkwa have also lowered their flags to half mast.
The school was run by the Catholic church between 1890 and 1969 and had students from across B-C.
The Truth and Reconciliation Report documented the deaths of at least 32-hundred children at residential schools.
Several First Nations leaders including BC Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee are now calling on governments to help search other former residential school sites, to see if more bodies might be found.
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