72. We call upon the federal government to allocate sufficient resources to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to allow it to develop and maintain the National Residential School Student Death Register established by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
“We think that we have not uncovered anywhere near what the total [number of deaths of children in residential schools] would be because the record keeping around that question was very poor” – Justice Murray Sinclair
In order for families to obtain closure for the gruesome and tragic losses, all existing records need to be provided to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. This action will allow those who have lost members of their families to access information they have always wanted and needed to move forward. All information needs to be made accessible to the public as well. By creating such a register, Canadians will have the opportunity to become educated and enlighten others who don’t know of or understand the cultural genocide of the residential school legacy.
Further reading:
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network – Number of Indian residential school student dealths may never be known. <http://aptn.ca/news/2015/06/02/number-indian-residential-school-student-deaths-may-never-known-trc/>
Compiled by: Véronique Russell