WELLINGTON — When news reports first tumbled out about the “unmarked graves” of 215 youngsters that were said to have been found at the former Kamloops residential school in British Columbia, the story ricocheted far beyond Canada.
Here in New Zealand, which is about as geographically far-flung as you can get, the still-unconfirmed details landed with understandable force.
Small wonder. In 2021, this nation of 5.3 million was in the throes of a royal commission of inquiry into the historical abuse of children in state care, many of them Māori, with much of the attention given to the same era.
