Trudeau chanted during the ceremony at the residential school in BC

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Kamloops on Monday as an invited guest at Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, as the First Nation marked the first anniversary of the confirmation of 215 unmarked graves on the site of a former residential school.

Trudeau received a mixed reception when he arrived and made his way through the large crowd while away from several members of his security forces.

There were many well-wishers who warmly greeted the Prime Minister and asked to take a selfie with him.

But he was also followed closely by a tumultuous crowd of singers and drummers who wanted to convey their own message.

“All of Canada is Indian land!” They sang as they beat their drums. “RCMP has no jurisdiction!”

Trudeau mostly ignored the group, which also sang “We don’t need your constitution!”

But in brief speeches from the podium, the prime minister spoke directly to those who sang protest songs about the stolen local lands, telling them he understood their anger as he tried to shift the focus back to the missing children.

“I hear you. It’s about remembering those we lost. It’s about gathering and thinking about where we are and, above all, where we should all go together,” he said.

At a press conference later in the evening, CTV News asked Trudeau if he believed that Canada existed on the stolen land of the indigenous people, and he did not give a definite answer.

“Canada is a country made up of indigenous people who have been here for millennia, who have welcomed settlers in some cases and been taken over by settlers in others,” he said. “But we are a country that exists today with a commitment to always learn from the past and always do better.”

Trudeau’s answer to the question lasted more than 90 seconds, but his answer was ambiguous and it is still unclear whether he believes that the first nations had traditional territories that they occupied for thousands of years, stolen from them.

“There is no doubt that we can go back in time and see all the terrible things that have happened.” The history of Canada is the history of people coming together to build a better future for themselves and their children. than they could have imagined. a generation ago, ”he concluded.