Both the government of Canada and the province of BC have expressed their support for the Williams Lake First Nation as they prepare to reveal what the first part of their investigation into the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School has found.
And in order to help with the investigative work into the school’s unmarked burial sites, a total of close to 2 million dollars in funding will be given to the nation so this important work is able to completed.
The funding amount was announced earlier today by the Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations, the Honorable Marc Miller, BC’s Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, Murray Rankin and Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars.
In addition to the funding, work will also begin on bringing both elders and survivors together for interviews as well as to share some knowledge about the unmarked graves and then plan and host cultural ceremonies within the community.
The reason for this being a community led process is so that the First Nation can do this work at whatever pace they like and with whatever methods they prefer.
The Nation has scheduled their initial findings to be revealed on January 25th at 1:00 PM.
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