A Guatemala-based forensic anthropology organization is extending its hand to Indigenous Peoples in Canada looking to potentially recover remains of children on the grounds of former residential schools.
Fredy Peccerelli, a founding member of the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation, has been working for nearly 30 years to bring home bodies of the "disappeared" — Maya civilians who were killed during the 36-year civil war in Guatemala that ended in 1996.
An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools, of which more than 60 per cent were run by the Catholic Church. He added that his group has worked with others in Mexico and Rwanda to train people on how to collect DNA, excavate graves and repatriate remains.Peccerelli isn't the only person to say that Indigenous actors should be at the forefront of searches for children's remains.
The group was engaged to consult with Indigenous communities about the options they have to identify and repatriate missing children. In a recent interview, Worme said he was hired by Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc in the days after the 215 anomalies were publicly announced, mainly to assist with managing communications and the legal implications of what was happening.
"We cannot leave the sacred work to be done by others without the intense and specific knowledge that is necessary to undertake this," said Worme. "It's sacred work, and seen as a responsibility."
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