Content warning: mentions of death, Indigenous residential schools, and the ongoing violence committed against Indigenous peoples. If you or anyone you know is Indigenous and needs support, the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line is available 24/7 at 1-866-925-4419.

Gallery 101 staff and board members would like to extend our deepest condolences to First Nations, Inuit and Métis people who are grieving the 215 Secwépemc children whose lives were taken, and whose remains have only recently been found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. G101 stands in solidarity with Indigenous communities in naming the Indian Residential School system as an act of genocide by the Canadian government. We hold space to grieve the many children still unaccounted for.

This is not just history. Connected to the ongoing intergenerational and first-hand trauma experienced by living residential school survivors and their families, now more than any other time in Canada’s existence there are more First Nations, Inuit and Métis children and adults housed in some form of government sanctioned institution including foster homes, halfway houses, detention centres, and prisons; and/or displaced from their homelands due to extractive industries, environmental degradation, and systemic poverty.

Starting today, G101 will share resources and calls to action from Indigenous leaders and organizations.  Echoing Chief Alex Thomas Way of theTk̓emlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops Indian Band), we encourage our community to read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report and the 94 Calls to Action, in order to “uphold the heavy lifting already done by the survivors, intergenerational survivors, and the TRC,” and to start conversations about what can be done to honour Indigenous children and families - past, present, and future.

We offer our deepest condolences, prayers and strength to, with and for our Indigenous community members.

For Indigenous folks in need of crisis support, the Indian Residential School Crisis Line (IIRSS) is available 24/7: 1-866-925-4419

In Peace, Love and Solidarity,
Gallery 101 Board and staff