The Former Kamloops Indian Residential School National Historic Site

The Former Kamloops Indian Residential School was designated as a national historic site in 2024.

Commemorative plaque: will be installed in Kamloops Indian Residential School, 330 Chief Alex Thomas Way, Kamloops, British Columbia^{Footnote 1}

Former Kamloops Indian Residential School (1890-1978)

Children from more than 108 communities and at least 38 Indigenous Nations in British Columbia and beyond were forcibly removed from their homes and sent here. They endured mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and sexual abuse, forced labour, malnutrition, and high rates of disease. Many died and never returned to their families. Run by the Catholic Church, this was the largest school in a federal system designed to destroy Indigenous cultures. This has been called genocide by Survivors, Pope Francis I, the House of Commons, and others. The traumas experienced have profound, lifelong, and intergenerational impacts. Tk̓emlúps preserved four buildings to commemorate and share this history, and revitalize Secwépemc language, history, and culture.

LE XQ̓ WIYL̓EQSÉLLCWES LU7 NE TK̓EMLÚL̓PE (1890-1978)

Xwexwéyt te qeqelmúcw ne7élye ne British Columbia kwiyúsem es kwéctems re ̓ stsmémelt.s, m-tskementém ̓ ̓es ne7éne ne xqwiyl̓eqséllcw ne Tkemlú ̓ l̓pe. Xwexwéyt re stsmémelt relrált re skwiyúsemst.s es ̓ q̓uwentés re qeqelmúcw. Xwexwéyt t̓ri7 tekenhé7e es qwenékstmentem te kist te ̓ tsúwet.s re qweqwiyél̓qst.s. M-níkctem te ̓ qéwtens, ri7 re qelmúcw re txexeténs, m-cw7it re kek7ep, m-elkste7úyemens re stsmémelt, ri7 re pelltsúw̓etmentem, ell m-púlstmes e m-ta7wes k skelé ̓ l̓nems. ell ta7 ri7 k sle7s re smetéms t̓ri7 wel k7ep re stsmémelt. Cw7itekwe ta7 k spelq̓ílcs te temtmícws te t̓ri7 telhé7e k kwenkwéntmes, ell t̓ri7 re s7i7llcw m-xweyt. Ye7éne te xqwiyl̓eqséllcw p̓7e7cw ri7 re sxyums te xq̓wiyl̓eqséllcw ne xwexwéyt te xqelmecwúl̓ecw, tskult.s yerí7 re sq ̓ ̓uwentés re qelmúcw es ta7s es xenwén̓s es tslexemwílcs xwexwéyt te tsúwet.s re stet̓ex7éms, es llépens re xqwelténs, es ta7s es tslexemstés re stsptekwlls, ell es ta7s re stslexmúl̓ecws te temtmícws. Xwts̓ilc es tcwey̓mens ell re sq̓empúl̓ecwst.s re xwexwéyt re qeqelmúcw ne temtmícwskucw. Ye7éne te kwséltktens re qeqelmúcw ̓ re swumécst.s ye7éne te sqwenékstmentem, yúmell pyin péwel ell re qweq̓wíyél̓eqs re senkúkpi7s, Pope Francis I, ell re semséme7 re kukúkwpi7s re sts7emét.st.s “genocide.” Yúmell ey re stsq̓ixtsen̓s re xqw̓iyl̓eqséllcw, xwexwéyt te stem re skest.s re qeqelmúcw es kwiyúsemstels ell re stnílmens re em7ímts.s ̓ re xwexwéyt te qeqelmúcw te swecwtéls, me7 q̓7es yerí7 ell me7 letwílcwet. Xexé7 re stqwelmíns re Secwépemc es kest.s well ye7éne te xq̓wiyleqséllcw t̓ri7 re s7i7llcw re m-weqwíq̓ens, kémell m-westém- ̓ kucw ye7éne ne Tkemlú ̓ l̓pe es kwemtús es tsún̓me7ékstmentem re semséme7 tkenhé7e re skwiyúsemstels ne7éne te xq ̓ ̓wiyl̓eqséllcw, ell wellnewí7kt es cpucwentém-kucw re xqweqwelténs, re tsúwets-kucw ell re skúltens-kucw es tsetséts.s cú7tsem es ̓ ts̓lilcstwécws-kucw ne7élye ne temtmícw-kt.

ANKATI KAMLUPS INDYUSTRIAL SKUL (1890-1978)

Ayu tanas klaska chako iakwa kopa klunas 108 ilihi, kopa klunas 38 hlwima Sawash tilikom kopa British Kolombia ilihi pi wiht kopa saia. Taii gavmin tilikom skukum klaska mamuk pus iskom klaska kopa klaska ilihi pi mash klaska iakwa. Ukuk ayu tanas klaska tlap aias klahawiam kopa klaska itluil pi kopa klaska tomtom. Klaska tlap aias sik tomtom. Kakwa pus klaska lost klaska ankati Sawash styuil. Skul taii klaska mamuk masachi klaska, pi wawa pus klaska mamuk pi ilo piii pi ilo ayu makmak. Drit ayu klaska tlap skukum sik. Ayu ukuk tanas mimlus iakwa pi wik kansih kilapai kopa klaska tilikom. Kanada gavmin ukuk skul iaka taii. Ukuk skul drit ilip aias kopa kanawi. Pi kanawi ukuk skul kakwa pus tiki mamuk ilo ukuk Sawash tilikom klaska oihat. Ayu tilikom klaska wawa, chinosaid ukuk. Kakwa pus wawa “masachi tilikom tiki mamuk mimlus kanawi klaska”. Tilikom ankati skul tanas klaska wawa kakwa, pi wiht lipap Iht Fraswa, pi Kanada Haws of Komons, pi wiht iht iht. Lili alki aias klahawiam nsaika pi nsaika tanas, kopa ukuk. Tk’amlups tilikom klaska iskom lakit ukuk aias haws pus kwanisim mitlait, pus kakwa, kanawi tilikom chako komtaks ikta ankati chako iakwa, pi wik kansih mash komtaks, pi wiht pus mamuk wiht skukum Shushwap tilikom klaska oihat.

The Former Kamloops Indian Residential School, Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc, British Columbia

The Former Kamloops Indian Residential School is located on the Kamloops Indian Reserve #1 lands of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc. It was nominated for designation by Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc members. Parks Canada and the First Nation undertook a collaborative process to identify the historical importance of this former school and co-develop the plaque text that was presented to the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

Located on the north bank of the South Thompson River at the foot of Sqeq7é7em (Mounts Paul and Peter), the Kamloops Indian Residential School opened in 1890 as the Kamloops Industrial School and closed in 1978. In 1967, students began attending local provincial schools while continuing to live at the school. Two years later, the federal government took over its administration, and the residence operated until 1978.

The school was part of a system of residential schools for Indigenous Peoples instituted by governments working with Christian churches in the 19th and 20th centuries. As part of the government policy of forced assimilation, these institutions separated Indigenous children from their families and communities in order to eradicate their cultures, spiritualities, languages, and traditions. Run by the Roman Catholic congregations of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Sisters of Saint Ann, the Kamloops Indian Residential School was the largest institution in a system designed to carry out what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada described as cultural genocide. Survivors and many others refer to it as genocide. In 2022, Pope Francis I and the Canadian House of Commons referred to what happened in Indian Residential Schools as genocide.

The students who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School were children between the ages of four and 18, and were from more than 108 communities and at least 38 Indigenous Nations from across British Columbia and beyond, including the Secwépemc, Stó:lō, St’át’imc, Nłeʔkepmxc, and Syilx. Forcibly removed from their homes, these children endured mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and sexual abuse, forced labour, malnutrition, inadequate and overcrowded living conditions, and high rates of infectious diseases. Many died and never returned to their families. Before the late 1950s, the school operated on a half-day system in which children spent half of their time participating in religious practices and performing physical labour that contributed financially to the school, and half of the day or less receiving basic or deficient academic instruction. The traumas experienced by Survivors have had profound, lifelong, and intergenerational impacts that continue today.

The former Kamloops residential school is one of the few remaining residential school sites in Canada with a large group of original buildings and landscapes. It bears witness in physical form to the experiences of generations of children who lived and died there, as well as to the broader history of the residential school system in all its phases. Its notable buildings are the Main Building (1923–29), the Gymnasium (1938), the Workshop (1942), and the Annex (a former residence) (1962). The grounds of the site include a row of maple trees in front of the Main Building and the former orchard, which Survivors’ testimony has indicated contains unmarked burials.

“The commemoration and designation of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School to a site of national historic significance reflects how arrangements made collaboratively will benefit all people, indigenous and non-indigenous. It will serve as a place that will contribute to greater understanding of Secwépemc history and traditional knowledge. The designation symbolizes hope and the vision of our ancestors for a prosperous future for our children, and those not yet born. We collectively know all too well the often-impoverished view of reciprocal obligations and how it has dominated our people. Today, at Tk̓emlúps we take great pride in this path we walk together to commemorate that real collective history. Proud and honored to be in my ancestor’s vision of Clexléxqen or Petit Louis (1828-1915), who advocated for schooling that would benefit the Secwépemc people, together we will educate and share for a prosperous future with pride, the designation is a confirmation of our shared commitment and the hope for change.”

Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc chose to preserve four of its buildings to commemorate and share the history and impacts of residential schools on children and families, and to revitalize Secwépemc language, history, and culture as an act of reclamation. In 1982, 17 communities of the Secwépemc Nation signed the Shuswap Declaration, agreeing to work together to preserve, record, enhance, and perpetuate Secwépemc language, history, and culture. The declaration led to the establishment of the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society and the Secwépemc Museum & Heritage Park at the site. Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc renamed the former residential school site the Chief Louis Centre in honour of the visionary leader, also known as Clexléxqen or Petit Louis (1828–1915), who advocated for schooling that would benefit the Secwépemc people.

The designation of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School as a site of national historic significance does not affect the ownership of the school site. The former Kamloops Indian Residential School and its grounds remain the responsibility and property of Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc.

This press backgrounder was prepared at the time of the plaque unveiling in 2025.