(OTTAWA) A committee of indigenous experts is refusing to participate in engagement sessions offered by an international organization hired by Ottawa to offer advice on identifying possible human remains in unmarked graves near residential schools.
The National Advisory Committee on Missing Children from Residential Schools and Unmarked Graves says that “after careful consideration” it has decided not to become involved in the DNA collection engagement process being conducted on behalf of the government. federal by the international body.
The federal government and the National Center for Truth and Reconciliation announced the creation of this advisory committee last July.
Months earlier, the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Nation in British Columbia announced the discovery by ground-penetrating radar of what are believed to be more than 200 unmarked graves at the site of a former federal residential school. for Aboriginals. Other First Nations communities in Western Canada have since announced similar discoveries.
Last fall, the federal government signed a contract with the International Commission for Missing Persons, based in the Netherlands, to work with communities in their efforts to identify possible human remains.
The national advisory committee explains on Monday that it has already raised concerns about this agreement with the international body. The committee remains concerned that to carry out “such important and sensitive” work, Ottawa has called on a non-Indigenous organization “that has never worked with survivors of residential schools”.
“The National Advisory Committee strongly believes that the federal engagement process to develop a joint national strategy on DNA, identification and repatriation of missing children from residential schools must not be limited to employing Indigenous personnel: it must also be led by Indigenous people and survivors, to ensure that no further harm is done,” a statement read.