FILE PHOTO - Stephanie Gutierrez and Vincent Tony lay 215 child-sized shoes in front of the former Kamloops Residential School.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

What began as a way to show support for Indigenous communities following the discovery of unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Residential School continues for a second year because people need to be aware of Canada’s dark history, according to organizer Mike Otto.

The second annual We Stand in Solidarity convoy will begin June 18 at UBC Okanagan’s lower parking lot at 10 a.m. and end at the former residential school site on Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc land.

“We are going to do it as many times as we can,” said Otto. “There still needs to be some awareness of what’s going on.”

READ MORE: Why Kamloops has a new orange crosswalk with 7 eagle feathers

The remains at the Kamloops site were discovered using ground-penetrating radar equipment. Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc announced earlier this month a new round of ground-penetrating radar probing is ongoing near the former Kamloops residential school and will take about a month to complete.

The discovery of the remains sparked a nationwide reckoning of Canada’s treatment of Indigenous peoples and compelled other communities to begin their own ground-penetrating radar work near former residential school sites.

On Monday, May 23, the band held a memorial for the missing children that never returned home from residential schools. That day marked the one-year since the announcement.

READ MORE: Chief sees process of 'exhumation to memorialization' at Kamloops graves site

For the run, more than 2,000 people are expected at the site on Chief Alex Thomas Way, along with dancers, speeches and food trucks. Part of the proceeds from the food trucks will go towards the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society.

“I know there’s a bunch of people coming down from Chilliwack and Williams Lake and Prince George,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of people there.”

When the discovery was first announced, Otto said he couldn’t watch and do nothing.

“Being a parent myself, I can’t imagine the pain Indigenous people went through,” he said.

More information about the convoy can be found on the We Stand in Solidarity group’s Facebook event here.

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