Statement on Kamloops 215 from Amelia Marchand, Conservation Northwest Board Member and member of the Colville Confederated Tribes

We need to heal and learn together, lifting one another up for a better future we all deserve, one which was stolen from these 215 children…and so many others.

The following is a personal statement from Amelia Marchand, Conservation Northwest Board Member and member of the Colville Confederated Tribes.

“My heart and spirit sank when I learned of a mass grave of 215 Indigenous children which was uncovered at a former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. Though I am removed in space and time from Kamloops, this unveiling of knowledge recalled for me the history of genocide, violence, and forced assimilation that my ancestors experienced. I have inherited the struggles of my great grandparents, grandparents, and parents to survive and thrive within this colonial institution of governance.