Kamloops memorial ceremony scheduled at Shingwauk Hall

Tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m., a memorial ceremony will take place at the main entrance of Algoma University's Shingwauk Hall.

The public is invited to observe the virtual ceremony via Zoom or Facebook Live as participants "honour the 215 children who lost their lives at the Kamloops Residential School," states a news release issued today.

Full text of the news release follows:

Algoma University, along with its partners from the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association (CSAA), Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig (SKG), Shingwauk Education Trust (SET), Shingwauk Anishinaabe Students’ Association (SASA) and Algoma University Students’ Union (AUSU), invite you to join a virtual Shingwauk Hall Memorial Ceremony, honouring the 215 children who lost their lives at the Kamloops Residential School.

The ceremony, with invited speakers staged at the main entrance of Shingwauk Hall, will take place virtually on Friday, June 4, 2021 at 3 p.m.

The ceremony will begin with a prayer and smudge followed by speakers from CSAA, SKG, SET, Algoma U, SASA, AUSU and the Chiefs of Garden River and Batchewana First Nation.

This ceremony will acknowledge the gifts that were left this past week in honour of the children’s spirits at Shingwauk Hall. Some of the shoes that have been left in memoriam at Shingwauk Hall will be cleaned and donated to various community charities, others will remain in Shingwauk Hall and Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig in permanent displays as a constant reminder of the lives that were lost in residential schools and never returned home. The remaining items will be respectfully cared for in ceremony.

Given the ongoing pandemic, we strongly encourage those interested in the virtual ceremony to join via Zoom webinar or Facebook Live.

Those on-site must adhere to all Algoma Public Health health and safety guidelines including maintaining social distance and wearing a face-covering/mask.