‘The proof is in the history’: Sask. lawyer challenges residential school denialism

The gathering came days after a controversial public display in British Columbia. Roseanne Casimir, chief of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, said on Sunday a group of masked individuals dropped a banner from an overpass in Kamloops, B.C. The banner, with the words “Got bones?” appeared to be questioning reports of human burials at the former sites of residential schools.

Kamloops RCMP said they were investigating. Supt. Jeff Pelley described the demonstrators’ actions as an attempt to intimidate and provoke fear and division.

Meanwhile, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty was noncommittal Monday when asked about criminalizing residential school denialism after the group linked to white nationalism staged their demonstration.

Participants take part in an Orange Shirt Day walk at the Ridge, the former Battleford Industrial School site in Battleford, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

Speaking about denialism generally, Sunchild said survivors’ testimony and the historical record should be heard.

“I get irked when I hear people denying that residential school happened because it did happen.”

She said Indigenous traditions concerning the dead must also be respected, including decisions about exhumation and DNA testing.

“It’s not up to Indigenous people to prove that there are bodies in the ground,” she said. “The proof is in the stories. The proof is in the narratives. The proof is in the history.”

She urged people to read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports, listen to survivors and watch films about the schools.

More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, and thousands died in the institutions.

For Sunchild, hearing survivors’ accounts was what first prompted the walk.

Her firm assisted thousands through the Independent Assessment Process, she said. She wanted to commemorate children who attended the Battleford school and other residential schools in the region, including those who never came home.

She estimated the walk has been held for about 15 years, beginning as a Battleford Industrial School walk before becoming an Orange Shirt Day event.

On her way to Wednesday’s gathering, Sunchild recalled another journey: travelling to the Vatican in 2022 with a Saskatchewan Indigenous delegation through the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.

From left, Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations communications representative Larissa Burnouf, lawyer Eleanore Sunchild and dancer Kevin Haywahe of Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation at the Vatican in 2022. Sunchild accompanied residential school survivors to support them in delivering their message to the late Pope Francis. (Image Credit: Anthony Linklater)

She accompanied survivors to support them and help them deliver their message to the pope.

During the delegation’s visit, the late Pope Francis apologized for the conduct of members of the Catholic Church.

“For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask for God’s forgiveness and I want to say to you with all my heart: I am very sorry. And I join my brothers, the Canadian bishops, in asking your pardon,” he said.

For Sunchild, the trip remains a difficult memory.

“It was like going into war, really,” she said.

Those who travelled together remain in contact, connected by an experience she described as traumatic.

What stayed with her most was a powwow dancer who had joined the delegation to perform before the pope. Before the meeting, she encouraged him to dance for the survivors.

He honoured them with his song and dance, she recalled.

“That’s what I remember about going in there, how we all stood together and we all supported each other.”

(Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

On Orange Shirt Day, Sunchild said survivors need support as “they have to relive those memories of the abuse and the trauma being separated from their families, their communities.”

She also urged people to consider the effects on subsequent generations, linking residential school trauma to homelessness and addiction in the community. Understanding those histories can help people recognize the experiences behind the struggles they see today, she said.

Sunchild said reconciliation requires non-Indigenous people without residential school experiences in their families to educate themselves.

“They need to learn. They need to listen and learn about the schools, about why the schools were created, about the narratives and the impacts it has had on the survivors.”

For Indigenous people, she encouraged supporting those who attended and examining how residential schools affected their own families, communities and nations.

“Believe the survivors! Our dead don’t owe you proof.”

-With files from The Canadian Press

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Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com

by Kenneth Cheung

‘The proof is in the history’: Sask. lawyer challenges residential school denialism

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