A GoFundMe by residential school survivor Steve Sxwithultxw, and Tom LaFortune and Michele Mundy to bring the ground-penetrating radar used in the tragic Kamploops discovery has raised nearly $140,000. Today we speak to Steve about what the overwhelming response means to him and what comes next.
A GoFundMe by residential school survivor Steve Sxwithultxw, and Tom LaFortune and Michele Mundy to bring the ground-penetrating radar used in the tragic Kamploops discovery has raised nearly $140,000. Today we speak to Steve about what the overwhelming response means to him and what comes next.
Find the GoFundMe here.
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Disclaimer: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Jackie: Hi. My name is Jackie Lamport. Today is Friday, June 11. Welcome to the Capital Daily Podcast. A GoFundMe has been started to bring the technology used in the devastating discovery of 215 Indigenous children's remains to Vancouver Island School locations. It has raised five times what they were hoping for. We speak to one of the organizers to hear what happens next and what the support means to him. After the news that the remains of 215 indigenous children were found under a former residential school in Kamloops, Steve Sxwithul'txw, Tom Lafortune, and Michele Mundy decided to start a GoFundMe to bring the ground-penetrating radar to Vancouver Island. The GoFundMe will bring the funds and resources to First Nations communities on the island to search former residential schools here if they want to. The goal was $25,000. As of writing the script, it has reached $138,000 and counting. Steve Sxwithul'txw joins us today to talk about the campaign's success, what it means to him and what happens now. Steve, thank you so much for joining the podcast.
Steve: You're welcome. It's nice to be here.
Jackie: Let's start at the beginning of this. How were you impacted when you first saw the news coming from Kamloops?
Steve: Well, I think you know, from the moment that I had read the article early last week, you know it, it really puts things in perspective. I went through all the emotions of shock and disbelief and anger, resentment. You come around full circle when saying to yourself, "well, we knew this." Our elders have said this. Our survivors have said this. Murray Sinclair said this. It's out there. It's a matter of where and when it's going to be unveiled, and it just so happened to be in Kamloops last week with 215.
Jackie: When did you decide that you wanted to come up with an idea to make sure that this information comes out in Vancouver Island as well?
Steve: As a survivor of Cooper Island residential school, which is now Pelican Island. I had a brief conversation with one of my friends, Tom Lafortune, and we check-in and of course, this news is coming out. His mother went to residential school, his late mom, and he knew that I attended, so he was checking in, and we were kind of talking about it. And he said, "Darren, I wish we could wish we could do something and some action hereafter, you know, there's more out there." And he goes, "I was thinking of starting a GoFundMe site to raise money for the GPR machine's ground-penetrating radar." I kind of took it with a grain of salt, and I said, "Let me kind of plant a seed, I guess if you will." And it was about four hours, four or five hours later, I called it back. I talked it over with my partner, Michele Mundy, who's working with me on this as well. So there's the three of us, Michelle, Tom and myself. And we talked it over and said, ”You know, this is going to be a big undertaking.” We'll see if we can get a machine and help out some of our first nations here on Vancouver Island, if any one of them want to help so or need assistance, rather than going through the red tape. So that's kind of how it all started. And then, as you know, if you keep track of this, it's grown substantially since last week.
Jackie: How quickly did you start seeing support?
Steve: I put that on my social media feeds, explaining and opening with who was involved and how we want to move forward. I think we're three pretty solid individuals in our Indigenous community. We're trustworthy, go doers. We make things happen. And the three of us got together; it's just like the perfect storm for this to move forward.
Jackie: How did it feel to see that level of support so quickly?
Steve: It's overwhelming. It's fantastic. It's something we all didn't expect. But it says something, it says something about this country because it's not just people on Vancouver Island, this is people across BC, Alberta, across the country, but internationally as well, that something has triggered this country into some kind of action. And most non-Indigenous Canadians who don't know the history who are just learning now needed to feel like they were doing something. And that need has been pushed towards our fund to help find other children in other residential school sites. So it speaks volumes in the amount of money that has been put forth to this project.
Jackie: This isn't the government. These individuals are putting this together, and you're seeing this kind of support from across the country? Do you think that this is a huge moment for reconciliation that doesn't even include the government?
Steve: I don't know if it's reconciliation. I think reconciliation is what I've learned from Tom and his brother, that record reconciliation should not come from the First Nations perspective, but the non-Indigenous government sector. In terms of my understanding of that, we have nothing to reconcile on our end; it's more motivation for other people, other Canadians, to do something. This is like a kick in the pants for every Canadian to realize the history and move forward. You know, is it a reckoning for the country? 100%. Is it a reckoning for the world? I think so too. I think it's opened the eyes of a lot of Canadians about what the truth is, you know, the many messages we've had on GoFundMe from people who are crying as they're writing or typing to me saying, "I'm in tears and writing this letter and saying how sorry and ashamed I am to be Canadian, and, and just appalled." I am aware of how Indigenous people have been treated in this country since the arrival of Confederation. It's a time of reckoning for sure. And I think I'm hoping this time, you know, this moment. I mean, I know when the TRC came out with the calls to action. And our Prime Minister was saying we were going to enact every one of these. And you know, we were kind of like, wow, this is great. And of course, that was, what, five years ago, six years ago, and little or nothing has been done. Unfortunately, it's something like this that opens the eyes of Canada that will hopefully move forward together with a lot more compassion for our First Nations people across the country.
Jackie: You wrote in some of the updates that professionals were also offering their services. Has any of that come through?
Steve: It's still all pending. We're only just a little over a week. You know, we're still in the planning phases. But all of those people that have donated or have offered their pro bono services have a contact resource list that we're putting together for whichever First Nation decides that they want one of these machines. So we're going to put it in a package and send that off to whatever community decides that they want to work with us and accept that machine. And as well, this resource book with all these wonderful offerings of assistance from archaeologists from data people, resource people, just everyday people that have skills. One lady offered an airplane. She said, "If you need to fly to remote communities and get there to drop these machines up, I will offer my airplane." We responded to every one of them, saying, "Thank you, we've got you on our list, we will be in touch." That section of planning is just starting. Obviously, we need a First Nation to say, "Hey, we would love to have one of your machines and whatever you have to offer, and please come up to our community." And of course, you got to repair the community and go in and do it. What we might find could be worse than what we found in Kamloops. So you have to prepare the community for this. It's not just somebody coming to wash windows on the house, and this is something that's impactful, that will change the face of that community over a period of time. So you have to do this work very diligently and with heavy compassion and understanding for what we might find.
Jackie: Have you spoken to any First Nations that seem to be at least slightly interested so far?
Steve: There's been several that we've talked to, and it's been, it's been along the lines of, "Let's have the conversations and then send us an email or letter outlining what you got. And we'll take it to our council and community and go from there." At this point, we're not sure. We don't want to pressure anyone. We have a less bureaucratic system than anything the First Nations I've ever seen. Send us a letter, give us a call and say, "Hey, we'd like to work with you." Then we're on to ordering the machines and bringing that package in as quickly as we can.
Jackie: You're now up to almost 139,000, which is five times over what you were originally hoping for. Does this open any new opportunities that you weren't expecting to be able to afford?
Steve: Well, I think when you have that kind of money, you have to move carefully. And with great understanding, this money is from the hearts of Canadians who want to help and First Nations people who have donated to this; they want to find our last children. That's what it's about. They want answers, and they want the truth. So no matter which way we go in terms of whether it's buying more machines, which is likely but again, it depends on which First Nation and their needs, we can't dictate that we can't guess what that might be or speculate. So we want to be very careful with how we spend this money and how we move forward. And of course, finding the right machine, something that works for everyone, something that we know is going to find that can do the job the way we want. I mean, we don't want to buy Ford Pintos. We want limousines, right? We want to make sure that we've got the best, which every first nation that has had a residential school at one time or another deserves to ensure that the meaning of those answers is out there. And we're able to use this technology to the best of our ability. So very carefully, but I think it really does expand our opportunities to work with multiple First Nations rather than just one or two.
Jackie: Have you spoken to any levels of government on this yet?
Steve: Surprisingly, no. I mean, I have a couple of friends in government and MLA, and he gave me a shout out of the blue and talked about the possibility of doing something together, but nothing significant. Nothing from the federal level at all. It's a little surprising. I don't understand. Maybe it's because the province and the feds are talking now. Mr. Trudeau made, you know, $27 million available less than a week after this announcement came out. It’s obvious through the pressure and the outcry from Canadians. And, of course, this GoFundMe, three local Indigenous people, one residential school survivor, and two inter intergenerational survivors have raised almost 140 grand to this cause, which most people would think is a little ironic. Still, we have to do something like this. So, if the federal government will step up and, you know, assist First Nations not only around here but across the country, it's better for everyone. So we just have to wait and see what happens.
Jackie: How does that make you feel? They haven't really done anything about it yet.
Steve: Let's be honest, this should have been done as part of one of the calls to action from Justice Murray Sinclair, and, and it was largely ignored, and it doesn't matter which government was in which party it was. This should have been done, hands down. So, it's a little frustrating that this wasn't important enough to take the word of members of the TRC that this was actually happening and that it was out there. So this is just the start. I think of something much larger, much more impactful. And I think Canadians really better prepare themselves for more heartache because it's going to be shocking as we go across the country.
Jackie: As a survivor, how important and how impactful would it be to you for this information to be discovered and then released and shown to the Canadian people?
Steve: Well, I think as a survivor and a First Nations person, it's important for us to note that these were children who had families. Mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and aunts, and uncles, and their losses still not complete. They're in a place where they retreated in the worst fashion you could ever imagine. And they don't belong there. And they need to go home. And that is really the initiative behind this. I think every effort should be made to make sure that happens at each and one of these sites.
Jackie: How can people support this?
Steve: I'll point to the GoFundMe to help our project. It's doing great, but education is key. We talked about the TRC report that was completed in 2015 and the calls to action. Please take a look, open it up, read the calls to action. Ask your MPs about why this has not been implemented. Ask, "Why are we not moving forward with this?" Most people in the government talk about the term "reconciliation," but it's just not happening. You look at Cindy Blackstock and her fight with First Nation foster kids and the government fighting the St. Anne's residential school survivors for PR compensation. The government says so much, but they do exactly the opposite. And that's the puzzling thing I don't understand about this government. And it's very, very hurtful. It's not helpful at all if they have any inclination about what reconciliation might look like. I mean, let's start there and move forward.
Jackie: Steve, thank you so much.
Steve: Thanks for having me. I appreciate your time.
Jackie: The link to the GoFundMe can be found in the description of this episode. And if your platform doesn't show it, you can also find it on my Twitter today, @jackielamport. Capital Daily reporter Jolene Rodisuela also wrote a piece on this fundraiser and why the government has been silent while individuals have funded and organized this. You can read that at capitaldaily.ca.