Early in the afternoon of December 7, 1941, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt was told that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. The next day, Roosevelt signed a declaration of war against Japan declaring December 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy.”.Canada had its own date of infamy — May 27, 2021. That was the day the Kamloops/Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Indian Band in central British Columbia issued the following press release heard around the world:.It is with a heavy heart that [Tk’emlúps te SecwépemcChief] Rosanne Casimir confirms an unthinkable loss. … This past weekend, with the help of a ground penetrating radar [GPR] specialist, the stark truth of the preliminary findings came to light — the confirmation of the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School..“We had a knowing in our community that we were able to verify. To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,” stated Kukpi7 [Chief] Rosanne Casimir..“Some were as young as three years old. We sought out a way to confirm that knowing out of deepest respect and love for those lost children and their families. ... At this time we have more questions than answers. We look forward to providing updates as they become available.”.But a year later, Casimir’s “stark truth” still lacks hard evidence. There has been no “confirmation of the remains” of a single buried body in this allegedly secret cemetery near the school; there is no evidence linking mere GPR detected soil disturbances to the Kamloops Indian Residential School; no information about the contents of the “knowing” or how it was “verified” have been released; and there are no plans to excavate the site to determine its actual contents..None of these concerns have been raised by the legacy media or other mainstream institutions. Instead, across Canada, this meagre preliminary information was more than sufficient to provoke mournful vigils, solidarity speeches, emotional testimonials from former IRS students, self-flagellation by politicians, the Canadian flag lowered to half-mast for nearly six months on government and other buildings, statues of former Canadian heroes defaced, destroyed, toppled, or removed, demands for the renaming of streets and public schools, calls for yet another papal apology, this time in Canada, and the destruction, vandalism or desecration of some 70 mainly Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, on and off Indian reserves..Though contrarian researchers like Brian Giesbrecht, Tom Flanagan, Frances Widdowson, and Jacques Rouillard have poked compelling circumstantial holes in the prevailing narrative, direct evidence has only just been revealed..Based on carefully compiled data about prior excavations and other soil disturbances where the alleged bodies are said to be buried suggests that “the date which will live in infamy” may have been the beginning of a massive Canadian burial hoax.. The Kamloops Indian Residential School, 1937 .What follows is a brief history of the apple orchard where the GPR specialist, Dr. Sarah Beaulieu, a sessional instructor at the University of the Fraser Valley, carried out her 2021 survey identifying what she originally called 215 “probable burials,” confirmed by indigenous mythology..“Oral histories recall children as young as six years old woken in the night to dig holes for burials in the apple orchard," said Beaulieu.Using historical photographs, diagrams, and documents, most of which may found here, several phases in the orchard’s past can now be illustrated and discussed. This work contextualizes Beaulieu’s findings and provides logical and empirical evidence questioning her claims.. Aerial photograph of the Kamloops residential school .The focus of this work is an apple orchard located about 500 feet southeast of the former Kamloops Indian residential school. It sits near a prehistoric house-pit village, atop an extensive shell midden and ancient refuse pits. The area is considered archaeologically significant and has been the subject of assessments, test holes and excavations from 1983 to 2004..Much of how the site appears today is due to 130 years of intense agricultural activity and infrastructure projects.. Historical agricultural activity in the alleged cemetery area .During the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, the Kamloops Residential School produced much of its own food in surrounding fields and orchards. Vegetables and other crops were grown in the school garden — seven acres of fenced land along the South Thompson River..In 1917, it was necessary to install extensive new irrigation works to ensure the viability of crops. Students were made to dig irrigation ditches and, where the ground was not favourable, wooden flumes and stave pipes were installed..Over almost 40 years of cultivation, the school garden became deeply furrowed in contrast to surrounding farmland. This could also indicate the presence of north to south irrigation ditches..By 1948, an apple orchard of at least 77 trees had been planted over much of the school garden. The garden, and eventually the orchard, was expanded northward, up a slight incline toward the school..Former students recall horrifying rumours of a graveyard in the apple orchard during the late 1940s and early 1950s.."There was rumours of a graveyard but nobody seemed to know where it was. We didn’t even know if it was true. And there was a big orchard there and we used to make up stories about the graveyard being in the orchard," said Emma Baker, who attended KIRS from Grade 9 to 12 (circa. 1950 to 1955)..“Dig a hole, somebody’s missing, dig a hole, somebody’s missing,” said Chief Michael LeBourdais recounting a story told by his uncle, a KIRS student in the 1950s.Based on media reports, most stories about a graveyard relate to the 1950s. By this time, much of the lower apple orchard was derelict and void of trees. This scrub land, flat and less frequented than the remaining orchard, seems the most logical place to conceal graves..In 1958, after at least a decade of alleged burials, more than 30% (100,000 square feet) of the former apple orchard was excavated for a sewage retention pond. A large sewer main was also trenched through the orchard from the northwest..No graves were discovered..Still, former students recall rumours of a graveyard throughout the 1960s..“We’re going to go steal apples, and then one night, one of the guys says no, we shouldn’t. That’s where they’re burying people, said Chief Harvey McLeod, who attended KIRS from 1966 to 1968..The apple orchard and school garden were abandoned by the late 1960s and early 1970s. With few trees remaining. The area would have been highly exposed to the nearby school building..By 1998, the former apple orchard had become part of the Secwepemc Museum and Heritage Park. Archaeologists from Simon Fraser University were on hand to monitor construction of park facilities, including a concession, washrooms, and various underground utilities. A backhoe trench four feet wide by five feet deep and 260 feet long was dug through the orchard for a water line. At least one ancient pit feature, containing animal bones, shells and other artifacts was located about two feet below grade (see Nicholas 1999)..No graves were discovered..In 2002, the Simon Fraser University Archaeology Field School undertook a significant excavation in the orchard. Fifteen shovel test pits were dug, followed by an excavation of about 20 feet wide by 50 feet long and six feet deep. An additional area of approximately seven feet square by five feet deep was excavated to the southwest. Amongst other features, a very large shell midden was found throughout the dig area. No graves were discovered..Macabre stories of a juvenile tooth found in the apple orchard originate from this 2002 dig. A possible human tooth was indeed discovered amongst assorted animal remains in the southwest excavation. However, the Simon Fraser University archaeology department where Beaulieu is employed has since stated that the tooth was not human..Again in 2004, the Simon Fraser University Archaeology Field School conducted a dig in the orchard. Seven pits, seven feet square and up to 10 feet deep were dug near the 2002 excavation. No graves were discovered..From 2005 to 2021, relatively little changed in the orchard. Aerial images reveal assorted park furniture and historical reconstructions coming and going, but no significant alterations to the land.. Intensive archeological activity in the alleged cemetery area .Since the alleged burials began in the late 1940s, more than 30% of the orchard has been excavated. Archaeologists have been active on the site since the 1980s, conducting excavations and monitoring construction work. Deep trenches have been cut straight across the orchard and a sewage pond was excavated from the entire southwestern quadrant. No graves have ever been discovered..When Beaulieu used GPR to scan the orchard in May of 2021, she was scanning a site heavily disturbed by centuries of human activity. Nevertheless, Beaulieu confidently claimed that 215 “probable burials” had been discovered..In July of 2021, Beaulieu admitted that 15 “probable burials” were actually “archaeological impact assessments, as well as construction.” Evidently, well-documented and easily available site work was not consulted prior to her initial survey. This is very worrying and very unprofessional..Several of the remaining 200 “probable burials” overlap with a utility trench dug in 1998, as can be seen in drone photography captured after the GPR survey. Still other “probable burials” follow the route of old roads or correlate suggestively with the pattern of previous planting and furrows. “Probable burials” located in the lower orchard conveniently avoid the septic pond, suggesting they were made after — numbering 59 — that would require more than five burials per year from 1958 to 1969 when classes ceased at the school and the land was returned to the Kamloops band..As of July 2022, Beaulieu has not released a detailed report of her findings and no “probable burials” have been confirmed through excavation..“Two hundred anomalies remain as targets of interest. These targets of interest are 'probable burials' as they demonstrate multiple GPR characteristics of burials. Only forensic investigation [excavation] will be able to conclusively determine this,” said Beaulieu..Given that the apple orchard is deeply textured by centuries of human activity, how can it be said that Dr. Beaulieu’s targets are more “probably” graves than other features of human activity?.With more than 30% of the orchard already excavated and no graves discovered, is it likely that a staggering 200 burials are scattered throughout the remaining area?.As for the mere accusation that murdered children were buried in the apple orchard in the dead of night, elementary logic — as opposed to Indigenous folktales — says that this is inconceivable; the school is not in some remote part of the province where nefarious deeds could easily take place; it has always employed band members, including more teachers as the years passed; the apple orchard is located within eyesight just across the South Thompson River from the city of Kamloops; and the school always saw a daily stream of visiting parents, dignitaries, tradespeople, school inspectors, and other parties..How could 200 children have been secretly buried with the whole of Kamloops and the entire Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc band turning a blind eye?.This has not prevented Beaulieu from giving privilege to indigenous “knowing” — folklore in technical terms — over the scientific evidence presented here..“GPR is not necessary to know that children went missing in the Indian residential school contexts. The fact that the 'knowing' has been recognized by indigenous communities for generations. Remote sensing, such as GPR, merely provides some spacial specificity to this truth," said Beaulieu..A year after the “date which will live in infamy” media release, there are even more questions than answers: How can a fallible technology like ground penetrating radar prove the existence of buried bodies? What is the name of even one of these buried children? Which parents or other relatives are frantically searching for missing Kamloops IRS children? Why haven’t any substantial updates been presented since May 27, 2021? Most important of all, why have no excavations been undertaken to determine whether any human remains are contained in what are presumed to be unmarked graves, some said to contain murdered children?.Alas, the Kamloops band has done nothing to address any of these questions. Now we know why: It is highly unlikely that any Kamloops IRS children were buried in this abandoned apple orchard..Kam Res is the pseudonym of a Canadian architect with expertise in aerial imagery and an interest in archival research. He wishes to remain anonymous fearing retribution for publishing his findings..Hymie Rubenstein is editor of The REAL Indian Residential Schools newsletter and a retired professor of anthropology, The University of Manitoba
