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The article is titled “Confronting residential schools denialism is an ethical and shared Canadian responsibility.” It was originally published on September 23, 2025 and is authored by Sean Carleton, Associate Professor, Departments of History and Indigenous Studies, University of Manitoba and Benjamin Kucher, Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta.

In May 2021, when the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Nation announced preliminary results of their search for unmarked burials of children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (IRS), Canada was forced to reckon with a truth that Survivors had always carried: children were taken, and many never came home.
This difficult truth was already established years earlier, in 2015, by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada’s final report, which confirmed more than 3,200 deaths of children as a result of the IRS system, including 51 at Kamloops.
The Kamloops announcement shook many Canadians and revealed that more children likely died at residential schools in Canada than the TRC reported. This was something the commission anticipated would happen with new research, and additional deaths have now been confirmed by First Nations and police as they have undertaken their own subsequent investigations.
Vigils sprang up across the country. Shoes, toys and teddy bears were placed on the steps of legislatures and churches to remember the children who died at residential schools. For a brief moment, Canada mourned with Indigenous Peoples; the truth of Survivors was acknowledged.
But four years later, residential school denialism — the downplaying and minimizing of residential school facts and the disavowal of the system’s abuse and harm — is on the rise.
As community initiatives and research related to missing children and unmarked burials have persevered and expanded, so too have efforts to diminish and disavow this very work.
Residential school denialism, as historian Crystal Gail Fraser has outlined, is an attack on truth. It seeks to dismiss the validity of ground searches and recast residential schools as humanitarian and benevolent.
Residential school denialism is not simply an alternate perspective. It is a form of harm that retraumatizes Survivors, undermines truth and perpetuates colonial ideas that jeopardize Canada’s ability to work with Indigenous Peoples to create a stronger future.
Confronting denialism is an ethical and shared responsibility.
The denialist playbook
Residential school denialism follows a pattern familiar from other forms of atrocity denialism. Holocaust denialism, genocide denialism and similar movements employ similar strategies: demand impossible “proof,” discredit Survivor and expert testimony and attack the reputations of researchers.
This can include denialists turning their attention toward those who dare to speak openly: Survivors, Indigenous communities and the experts who support them. What is often framed as “debate” seems more like a campaign of intimidation.
Residential school denialism, then, is not just an attack on truth. It also increasingly has many of the hallmarks of an attack on truth-tellers and anyone who is listening.
Denialists often present themselves as “skeptics” or “truth seekers,” cloaking harmful narratives in the language of free speech and rational inquiry. They cast Survivor testimony as unreliable, “emotional” or politically or financially motivated.
In doing so, they promote an alluring colonial narrative that absolves Canada of responsibility. The reach extends beyond Canada: denying the harms and facts of residential schooling is increasingly being used globally to shape international opinion related to the legacies of the British Empire.
At its heart, denialism is not about evidence. It is about power — who gets to tell the story of residential schooling and whose voices are considered trustworthy — and it causes harm along the way.
The human cost
The damage caused by denialism is immediate and personal. Survivors who bravely share their experiences are accused of fabrication.
Kimberly Murray, who serves as special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, received abuse, threats and hate mail.
Via social media and online commentary, people advocating denialist claims have targeted individual university employees.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, including ourselves, have seen their names dragged into online forums, their work misrepresented, their credibility attacked.
Cumulatively, efforts that discredit and delegitimize prominent truth-tellers contribute to backlash by creating space — for example, in comment sections or via re-circulating media — for people to voice ignorant views about Indigenous Peoples and perpetuate anti-Indigenous racism.
The cost is not limited to reputation; it is emotional and psychological. It has also resulted in disrespectful physical presence at former IRS sites: Murray reported that at the former Kamloops IRS:
“Denialists entered the site without permission. Some came in the middle of the night, carrying shovels; they said they wanted to ‘see for themselves’ if children are buried there.”
Survivors and Elders, those who should be most honoured, are retraumatized by these attacks on their integrity.
We, among other scholars, calculate the risks of speaking publicly, knowing it may bring harassment. And we know some community leaders for whom it is the same.
Denialism thrives on fear and hate
Residential school denialism has flourished in today’s political and digital climate. The rise of far-right populism, entrenched anti-Indigenous racism and the ecosystem of social media provide fertile ground for dedicated people to flood online spaces with disinformation.
Denialists exploit the deliberate, careful pace of ground searches and archeological work. They portray the absence of immediate excavation results as evidence that nothing is there, and ignore the confirmed deaths from exhumation when they are announced.
Proper archaeological and community-led work takes time. It requires ceremony, consent and cultural respect as multiple Nations work collaboratively to figure out how to honour children who attended schools from various communities. Excavation is not always possible, or even desired. Denialists twist these hard realities into narratives of doubt.
Gaps in education, inconsistent coverage
This manipulation is made easier by gaps in public education, inconsistent media coverage and government hesitancy. Too often, denialist claims circulate unchallenged. In these silences, mis- and disinformation thrives.
Denialism is not an Indigenous problem; confronting it is a Canadian responsibility.
Non-Indigenous Canadians must take an active role: learning the history, correcting misinformation and standing with Survivors and communities as they confront the truth about residential schooling.
Journalists and scholars also have a responsibility to report with care, refusing to legitimize denialist rhetoric under the guise of “balance” and disingenuous “debate.”
Truth and reconciliation cannot survive if the truth is minimized, downplayed or disavowed.
Shared responsibility
Despite these challenges, Indigenous communities continue the work of truth-telling. Survivors share their stories with courage: for example, one has launched a defamation lawsuit.
Communities organize and lead ground searches. Journalists fight to reveal hidden truths about residential school crimes.
Writers and scholars contribute expertise to raise awareness and meet community needs. Each act of testimony, ceremony and research is also an act of resistance against erasure and disavowal.
The children we are searching for, and remembering, deserve nothing less than our courage to confront the truth in an effort to create a better future. This is our shared responsibility.

Confronting residential schools denialism is an ethical and shared Canadian responsibility

September 23, 2025 • My Project Name

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