Please note that this is small, inimate event at the KIRS Memorial with very limited seating and parking. It is not at the Powwow Arbour.

Event Details

Join us at the Kamloops Indian Residential School Monument starting at 2:00 pm to present a plaque to the Jensen family in honour of Kenneth C. Jensen along with a book launch and conversation for Tsqelmucwilc: The Kamloops Indian Residential School – Resistance and a Reckoning by Celia Haig-Brown.

Tribute to Kenneth C. Jensen

The memorial located at the Kamloops Indian Residential School is the creation of Kenneth C Jensen who wanted to honour the children who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Ken referred to himself as “a survivor”. He was 7 years old when he started school in September 1956 as a resident student until June 1961. He continued attending KIRS as a Day Scholar from September 1962 until June 1965. His traumatic experiences at KIRS haunted him for the rest of his life. He did many things to try to heal the scars and this monument was one of those things.

Ken spent countless hours planning the monument and reaching out to different bands offices for input from survivors. He never felt like the monument was complete and had blank plaques placed for future ideas to be realized. Little did he know that his gift to his fellow classmates and community would be visited by survivors and many other from across the country and around the world and that it would become a symbol of comfort and peace to thousands. Sadly, Ken passeed away on December 16, 2019 from cancer. He is greatly misssed.

Tqelmucwilc By Celia Haig-Brown

“Tsqelmucwilc” (pronounced cha-CAL-mux-weel) is a Secwepemc phrase loosely translated as “We return to being human again.” Tsqelmucwilc is the story of those who survived the Kamloops Indian Residential School, based on the 1988 book Resistance and Renewal, a groundbreaking history of the school – and the first book on residential schools ever published in Canada. Tsqelmucwilc includes the original text as well as new material by the original book’s author, Celia Haig-Brown; essays by Secwepemc poet and KIRS survivor Garry Gottfriedson and Nuu-chah-nulth elder and residential school survivor Randy Fred; and first-hand reminiscences by other survivors of KIRS, as well as their children, on their experience and the impact of their trauma throughout their lives.

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Resources for Support

Kuu-Us Crisis Line Society provides crisis services for Indigenous people across BC. Adults and elders can call (250) 723-4050 for support; Youth can call (250) 723-2040. A toll-free number is available at 1-800-588-8717.

Indian Residential School Crisis Line. The crisis line is available 24-hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress. A toll-free number is available at 1-800-721-0066.

Learning

Assembly of First Nations Toolkit Learning Modules
Orange Shirt Society
Tk’emlups te Secwepmec – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Take Action

Personal pledge to Reconciliation

Indigenous Canada – Free online course through University of Alberta