Episode 59: Akhameyimok Returns - Kimberly Murray: Speaking Out for the Residential School Children in Unmarked Graves

Ahkameyimok Podcast with Perry Bellegarde

"The survivors felt if this had been white children, the community wouldn't be the ones having to investigate their own genocide." - Kimberly Murray

The Ahkameyimok Podcast is back!

And for this return episode Chief Perry Bellegarde is thrilled to have Kimberly Murray as his guest. She is the new Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools. That appointment by the federal department of Justice came about after the heartbreaking discoveries of hundreds of unmarked children's graves in former Residential Schools at Kamloops, BC and at the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan, and the hunt is on for more at dozens of former Residential School sites across the country.

In her discussion with Perry, Kimberly Murray talks about the technical challenges of searching for graves, overcoming hurdles put up by all levels of government and the police, what her role involves and enables her to do, and what justice looks like for the thousands of children who died from abuse, disease and neglect in Canada's Residential School system.

Kimberly Murray is a proud member of the Kanesatake Mohawk Nation. Before taking on her current role as Special Interlocutor, she was the Executive Director of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee from 2010 to 2015. And she was the Ontario’s first ever Assistant Deputy Attorney General for Aboriginal Justice. After that she led the search for unmarked graves at the Six Nations of the Grand River, working to recover the missing children and unmarked burial sites at the Mohawk Institute, which was Canada’s longest running residential school.

Ahkameyimok will continue to put out a new interview every couple of weeks, be sure to subscribe where you listen so you don't miss future episodes.

And be sure to follow on social media. Just search for @perrybellegarde