, an institution of assimilation that operated in the Cariboo region for nearly a century.
“This is a big step … setting a precedent of what reconciliation can be and should be in the province of British Columbia.”B.C., Williams Lake First Nation buy former residential school grounds for $1.2M In the 1980s and ’90s, two former staff pleaded guilty to charges related to sexually abusing students.Williams Lake First Nation, however, has since unearthed other horrifying findings through its archival research and interviews with survivors and their descendants: Harrowing stories of gang rape, child molestation, confinement, exposure to extreme conditions, intentional starvation, slave labour and beatings to the point of unconsciousness.
“Looking into the crystal ball of what that site is going to look like 10 years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, would be how we put up a monument and honour every single one of those survivors, every single one of those kids that went to that school, in an impactful way that we can participate in this reconciliation education that is happening in this country and this region.”
Murray Rankin, minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, said the ownership transfer ensures the former grounds will be safe from other possible development and can become a “place of reflection, remembrance and healing.”