The following are the Commitments to Action in the Sacred Covenant signed Easter Sunday by the Archdiocese of Vancouver, the Diocese of Kamloops and the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc.
COMMITMENTS TO ACTIONS
31. This covenant commits us to the following actions in pursuit of honour, truth, justice, healing and reconciliation:
(a) That we will seek fitting ways to memorialize the children of residential schools and regularly call them to mind in sacred ceremonies that we shall conduct together to ensure their lives are never forgotten.
(b) That we will work together and share information in full transparency to determine the truth: the identities of the children, the circumstances of their deaths and all information about the missing children to ensure we can accurately determine their home communities so they can rest in peace and their families have answers.
(c) That the Catholic Parties (the Archdiocese of Vancouver and Diocese of Kamloops) will offer and support mental health support and counselling for family members and others whose loved ones may be buried on the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
(d) The Catholic Parties, through the Healing and Reconciliation Grant program, will provide technical and scientific expertise and technical services needed to answer the questions raised by the previous GPR (ground-penetrating radar) survey. This provision is offered as an act of reconciliation in action as called for by the TRC. The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc and other affected Nations will choose how and when to honour, repatriate and remember their deceased children.
(e) The Parties acknowledge that the work the TRC initiated in identifying and commemorating those students who died at residential schools needs to be finished. Archbishop (J. Michael) Miller issued an Expression of Commitment in June 2021 to be fully transparent with the archives and records in the Vancouver Archdiocese’s possession and control relating to the Kamloops Residential School.
(f) Developing a strategy to address unmarked graves is complicated and will require long-term thoughtful discussion about the most appropriate procedures to document, commemorate and protect those burials. The Parties have confirmed their commitment to work collaboratively to implement the TRC’s calls to action and to address issues relating to missing children, unmarked burials and archival records about residential schools.
(g) That the dioceses will renew their commitments to support a fair and just recognition and implementation of First Nation jurisdiction and title.
(h) That the dioceses will support fundraising to support those First Nations who wish to maintain their residential schools as national monuments.
(i) That the Parties will identify lead officials to work together regularly to implement these commitments to action and as leaders we will meet regularly as needed to review progress on this covenant.
(j) That we will hold a sacred joint ceremony each year during the Easter season to light a candle signifying our progress toward truth, justice and reconciliation.
(k) That we will pass this candle on to other First Nations and dioceses until the light of truth becomes strong enough to replace this darkness with reconciliation.