The Kamloops Band’s February 7, 2022 Document about “The Missing”

At the beginning of November 2024, when Frances Widdowson was gathering together evidence for a documentary that she was developing about the talk that she gave at Brock University on “The ‘Grave Error’ at Kamloops” and whether it was a hoax, she came across a document on a United Nations’ website.

This document was supposedly a “presentation” given at some point in time by the Kamloops Band. The presentation had the contact information of Ted Gottfriedson (identified as the Language and Culture Manager with the email address Ted.Gottfriedson@ttes.ca).

According to the document description, it was created on February 7, 2022 by Carey Marchand.

This appears to be the Carey Marchand who works for an organization called the First Nations Technology Council.

It is not known when this “presentation” was made by the Kamloops Band, or to whom, but it is comprised of 14 pages, and has slides regarding the following: 1) Background; 2) Secwepemc [Kamloops Band] Practices and Protocols; 3) May 2021; 4) Lighting the Sacred Fire; 5) Incident Command Structure; 6) 13 Grassroots Advisory Council; 7) Human and Financial Resources; 8) Communication and Events; 9) Securing the Sacred Site; and 10) Where are we today.

As the document was created on February 7, 2022, it should be emphasized that this is almost SEVEN MONTHS after Dr. Sarah Beaulieu’s presentation was made on July 15, 2021, where she stated, in front of all band members and the world, that no remains had been discovered. Beaulieu asserted that only “200 anomalies” or “targets of interest” had been identified by the GPR, and that “only forensic investigation (excavation) will be able to conclusively determine [the existence of remains]”.

Beaulieu stated that the 215 number had been revised to 200 because she discovered after the fact that the SFU Archaeology Department had done excavations previously where 15 of the anomalies had been located, and so they were due to shovel test pits, not remains. This, of course, begged the question of whether all the other “anomalies” were due to other excavations documented by Kam Res that had been undertaken for the last 100 years (including the laying of septic tiles in the 1920s).

Given that this “presentation” was created on February 7, 2022, seven months after Beaulieu discussed the above findings, its contents are particularly interesting. On page 3, for example, the following “Truths of the Kamloops Indian Residential School” are noted: “Oral histories from survivors; Stories of our ancestors buried at the orchard; Early 2000’s a juvenile rib bone was found by a tourist and brought forward; and Juvenile tooth found in area during an archaeological impact assessment”.

In reading these assertions, one should be aware that Dr. Hugo Cardoso, the Chair of the SFU archaeology department, stated in an email to Nina Green on July 27, 2021, that the “juvenile tooth” found in the area was “identified as not human”, and that there was “no information” on the “juvenile rib bone”. It is important to note that an alleged “juvenile rib bone” would constitute remains belonging to a child if it were human, and one would have expected the Kamloops Band to have contacted the police so that it could be examined and investigated. The Kamloops Band appears not to have done this, which seems to indicate that it is likely to be one of the many rib bones of coyotes that dot the Kamloops landscape.

When Nina Green asked further questions, on July 28, 2021, she was told by SFU archaeologist George Nicholas – who has done extensive archaeological work with the Kamloops Band – that he had been “strongly advised by the TteS [Kamloops Band] legal team not to respond to any queries from the public regarding the search for unmarked graves in Kamloops” and this extended to all members of the SFU archaeology department.

On page 4 of the Kamloops Band “presentation”, it is asserted that Ground Penetrating Radar was initiated because the Kamloops Band had funding that they were “unable to use” because of Covid-19, and it decided to conduct the survey because the “Museum Administrator, Diena Jules, suggested using the funds to ‘look for the kids’. We are told that there were no formal plans previous to Jules’ suggestion to conduct such a survey. We are also told that the Kamloops Band asked their archaeologist Lisa LeBourdais for advice, she connected them with Dr. Eldon Yellowhorn, and, it is implied, that Yellowhorn recommended that they engage Dr. Sarah Beaulieu from the University of the Fraser Valley to undertake the GPR survey.

It should also be understood that the funds used for Beaulieu’s GPR work, which were supposed to have been used for the museum, were paid for by the Department of Canadian Heritage (a $40,000 grant).

On page 5, it is asserted that “ceremonial protocols” and a “hosting ceremony” occurred before Beaulieu’s GPR work began, “Spiritual Leaders” were at the site and “spiritual supports” were made available to Beaulieu throughout the GPR work and after it was completed. It is stated that “the confirmation of children’s burials” was “treated…as a funeral”. There were also numerous visits to the “Sacred Burial Site” with appropriate ceremonies and safe spaces being provided “for grieving and healing”, as well as singing and honouring of “the children”.

These references to ceremonies and spiritual supports being in place before and during the GPR survey seemed to be unknown to Manny Jules, Diena Jules brother. Jules appeared to be surprised when he was told about the results of the GPR survey. On May 2, 2022, Jules stated in an interview that:

Note that Manny Jules, on May 2, 2022, said that Jeanette Jules had referred to “215 possible unmarked graves” [emphasis added].

On Page 6, the “presentation” created on February 7, 2022 notes a number of “key dates” in May 2021. This includes the assertion that “Following the completed GPR, TteS was notified of approximately 215 children buried at the old orchard”. It is also asserted that on “May 27, 2021 TteSpublicly announced the findings of the 215+ children”.

While it is stated that the Kamloops Band “was notified” of hundreds of “children buried”, Sarah Beaulieu, on July 15, 2021, had declared that only 200 “anomalies” or “targets of interest” had been identified. She stated that excavations were needed to “confirm” any human remains. Is the Kamloops Band stating that Beaulieu “notified” them about this after she conducted the GPR survey? Unfortunately, this is not known. While Racelle Kooy, the Kamloops Band public relations liaison, promised that the report would be released, it has remained undisclosed.

Dr. Cardoso has stated that five archaeologists reviewed the report’s findings and found it to be “methodologically sound”, but SFU has refused to release the names of the archaeologists involved.

What is also not mentioned by this February 7, 2022 “presentation” is the fact that the Kamloops Band had prepared a Press Release on May 25, 2021, but it was embargoed until May 27, when it was released as a pretended “scoop” to James Peters of CFCJ Today. Two journalists who were informed of this press release before the May 27 “scoop” were Tanya Talaga and Angela Sterritt. Talaga let this be known in her book The Knowing and Angela Sterrit referred to this in an interview on June 1, 2021 (https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/1.6048230). The relevant section from Talaga’s The Knowing reads as follows:

Also not mentioned were two events that took place on June 2 and 3, 2021. The first was that Tanya Talaga, as recounted in her book The Knowing, was contacted by her editor from The Globe and Mail on the evening of June 2, 2021 “questioning the numbers – the 215”, which led Talaga to contact Murray Sinclair on the morning of June 3, 2021:

This led Murray Sinclair to make a presentation on June 3, 2021 to the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs saying that the RCMP were being “heavy-handed” by questioning Dr. Sarah Beaulieu. At around this time, the RCMP turned the investigation over to the Kamloops Band.

On the same day, June 3, 2021, 17 lawyers submitted a 14 page complaint to the International Criminal Court. This Complaint referred to “the recent discovery of a mass unmarked grave of 215 Indigenous children who were under the forced care of the GOC [Government of Canada] and the Vatican”. It goes on to state that “The specific school where the mass grave has been discovered is the Kamloops Indian Residential School” and that “the deaths, mass unmarked grave and general treatment of the 215 deceased children constitute crimes against humanity”.

How long did it take these 17 lawyers to construct this complaint, and were they given access to the embargoed Press Release from the Kamloops Band? Is it plausible to argue that 17 lawyers met to construct nine pages of legal arguments between May 28 and June 2, 2021 (six days, including a weekend)?

On Page 7 of the “presentation” , the Kamloops Band’s “funeral protocols” are discussed. These included a “sacred fire” burning for four days after the May 27, 2021 announcement, four children at the fire as “fire keepers”, and guests going to the sacred fire to “pay their respects” to “the children”.

On Page 8, it is stated that the orchard is a “Sacred Burial Site”, which is “treated as a crime scene” because of the “confirmation of the findings”. In August 2021 – a month after Sarah Beaulieu had announced that only anomalies and “targets of interest” had been identified – the Kamloops Band “began 13 Grassroots Family visits so that community would have the space and time to honour the children”.

On Page 9, the Kamloops Band asserts that an “Incident Command Structure” was created on June 2, 2021. This is a “coordinated approach” with FNHA [First Nations Health Authority] “partners” to “direct flow of information and decisions”.

Page 10 discusses the establishment of the “13 Grassroots Advisory Council” to implement a response to “the findings” and “provide recommendations to care for and honour the children”.

Page 11 examines the efforts to secure “human and financial resources”.

As will be recalled, the Kamloops Band received over $7 million in response to its announcement about the “remains of 215 children” being found. Instead of funding the excavations that were needed to determine if remains actually existed, the Kamloops Band outlines a need for “new positions”, resources for hosting guests, mental health supports, and “healing”.

Page 12 of the Kamloops Band February 7, 2022 “presentation” discusses further resource outlays through the development of a “formal event request process” – events that are occurring only because of the false claims made by the Kamloops Band.

Further developments are proposed on Page 13, including “implementing 13 Grassroots Advisory Council recommendations”.

These recommendations are important because they appear to be related to the Petition from the “13 Grassroots Family Advisory Council”, made on October 18, 2021 (three months after Beaulieu’s presentation about the 200 “anomalies” or “targets of interest”), claiming that “in May of 2021, evidence of a horrific act of genocide was laid bare to the world, with the confirmation of at least 215 unmarked graves of little ones who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School”.

…

And this was not the only other dissemination of false information by the Kamloops Band. At the BC Assembly of First Nations Annual General Meeting on September 14-16, 2021, Rosanne Casimir moved a resolution (seconded by Chris Lewis of the Squamish Nation) that “215 unmarked mass graves of children were located” at Kamloops. Again, this occurred two months after Sarah Beaulieu’s July 15, 2021 presentation.

On May 18, 2024, the Kamloops Band attempted to rewrite history by pretending that it had announced on May 27, 2021 “the confirmation of 215 anomalies were detected”.

A number of issues come out of the misinformation (and perhaps disinformation) spread by the Kamlops Band in its February 7, 2022 “presentation”.

First, since July 15, 2021, we have received no answers from Sarah Beaulieu about the Kamloops case. As the Kamloops Band claimed that it was on the basis of her findings that false allegations were made, resulting in millions of public funds being extracted and 17 lawyers making a complaint to the International Criminal Court concerning “crimes against humanity”, we need to know what she told the band after her GPR survey was completed on May 23, 2021 (paid for by the Department of Canadian Heritage). Did she, as is claimed by the Kamloops Band, notify them that “approximately 215 children [were] buried in at the old orchard”, or did she inform them that it was 215 “anomalies” or “targets of interest” that could be confirmed only through excavation? Did she provide her written report to the band, or was her communication with it only verbal?

Second, how can an archaeology department in a publicly funded institution – Simon Fraser University – not be transparent and release the names of the five archaeologists who reviewed Beaulieu’s Report? How can research done in a public academic institution, which should be open to verification from other academics, be under a gag order from the Kamloops Band’s lawyers?

Third, how can a report funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage not be made public?

Fourth, how can the RCMP turn over an investigation of a site claimed to be a “crime scene” to an entity like the Kamloops Band?

Fifth, why is The Globe and Mail allowing one of its journalists, Tanya Talaga, to use their position to contantly spread misinformation and mislead its readers?

Sixth, Ted Gottfriedson and Manny Jules stated on the CBC investigative program The Fifth Estate on January 12, 2022 that the “family heads” had decided that bodies of “those little ones” would be “exhumed”. Why hasn’t the CBC held the Kamloops Band to account about the lack of excavations for nearly three years?

Finally, how can anyone continue to think that it is likely that the remains of hundreds of children were buried clandestinely in a Kamloops apple orchard when the Kamloops Band has not produced the name of ONE child who is claimed not to have come home from that residential school? This, of course, is not to deny that children died while they were attending it (this confusion has been fueled by academics like Sean Carleton). According to historian Jacques Rouillard, there are 51 names that have been provided by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and 35 are accounted for. The remaining 14 (two of the 51 names are duplicates) require the acquisition of complete death certificates.

In spite of all of their misinformation, Casimir, Carleton, and Talaga continue to have the ear of the Canadian government and are now arguing that a post such as this one should be illegal.