Michael Higgins: Archeologist’s ‘critical theory’ PhD thesis explains everything about Kamloops ‘graves’

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Some have pointed out that five years later there are still no bodies unearthed, but Beaulieu predicted this as well. In fact, she said, excavations might never take place in such circumstances. 

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“By default, excavations on sites of conflict often organically evolve into community archaeology projects, providing oversight and authority to the witnesses and survivors. This can also lead to the prevention of an excavation from taking place,” she wrote. 

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Beaulieu cited the Argentinian case of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, mothers and families of victims of the military dictatorship, who refused to allow the excavation and recovery of their deceased family members “in an effort to keep the political struggle alive, since ‘therapeutic closure can also mean political closure’.” 

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In a 2023 podcast with Fraser Valley University’s community health and social innovation hub, Beaulieu expounded on her views, saying that “non-Indigenous Canadians from Turtle Island” had misunderstood the science. 

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“When the news in Kamloops broke one of the things that was really in the forefront was this notion that we had used science. For some reason, whatever reason, with non-Indigenous Canadians from Turtle Island, the idea that, you know, we are able to name names of the children or have actual numbers of the children that went missing means more than the actual stories, oral histories that came from the Indigenous communities that have been talked about for generations. 

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“And for me, it’s important that we are upholding and raising these oral traditions and stories, it’s important that the protocols, these traditions, are upheld and are equal to the science, the science we are using behind GPR (ground-penetrating radar).” 

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Interpretation of the results was also left to the community, she said. 

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“It is important to be invited into the community to conduct research that is important to them. And for me that means, as an outsider, that everything from conducting a survey, to preparing a report, to the interpretation of the results, to the review of the report needs to be run by the community itself. It’s not for me.” 

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Beaulieu also said that “decolonizing” education wasn’t enough, it needed to go further with “Indigenizing,” raising up Indigenous knowledge. 

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Giving voice to “marginalized communities” was cleansing, she said. “Being able to be part of the reconciliatory process, to be part of decolonizing academe, be part of Indigenizing our pedagogy and where we are today. Playing a very small role in that, for me, is what makes me able to get up every morning and do it again tomorrow.” 

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Are there graves at the Kamloops site? Does Beaulieu’s report show “anomalies” that could be graves or just old septic pipes as National Post colleague Tristin Hopper recently reported? We may never know because the report is being kept secret. 

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Following Kamloops, Canada has given almost $250 million to First Nations to hunt for bodies, all based on an archeological report — that the federal government paid for and that has never been made public — from a social justice activist who seems to believe that her mission is more about fighting oppression than the truth. 

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It’s long past time that the report was made public and the Carney Liberals should commit to doing so before any more money is paid out. 

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Five years ago, the world was led to believe that there were 215 children buried at Kamloops when the evidence just didn’t show that. 

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National Post

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