FILE PHOTO - Justin Trudeau at his town hall meeting at TRU on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019.

(SHELBY THEVENOT / iNFOnews.ca)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be in Kamloops today to attend the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Le Estcwicwéy memorial.

To mark the one year since the announcement of the discovery of 215 children's remains at the former Kamloops Residential School site, the event will feature a Sunrise Ceremony, and reflections of the past year.

"Pipe carriers, jingle dress dancers, hand drummers and tiny tots are being encouraged to be a part of the day," according to an announcement from the band.

Trudeau is meeting with Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Chief Rosanne Casimir and council members and will attend the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Le Estcwicwéy (The Missing) memorial, according to his office’s itinerary.

Last May, the band announced the discovery of the missing children after using ground-penetrating radar.

The Tk'emlups te Secwépemc says in a statement that a new round of ground-penetrating radar probing is to begin this week near the former Kamloops residential school and will take about a month to complete.

The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs issued a statement regarding the memorial.

"Tk’emlúps invited the Pope to visit the site on his Canadian tour this July; however nowhere is B.C. included on the Pope’s itinerary. The Pope’s refusal to visit Tk’emlúps, and the apology he made last month in Rome which lacked accountability or remedy, show blatant disregard for protocol and meaningful acknowledgement of the harms committed by the Church against generations of Indigenous peoples," they said.

"Meanwhile, we are still waiting for Canada to take ownership for its role in the systemic oppression of Indigenous people, to fully implements the Calls to Action, and to support the First Nations-led investigations into the unmarked grave sites across the country with sustainable funding, the release of documentation, and healing supports for all those affected." 

READ MORE: B.C. First Nation to start new radar search near former Kamloops residential school

- With files from The Canadian Press

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