By
Kelly Geraldine Malone | The Canadian Press | June 11, 2022WINNIPEG
- Chiefs from two First Nations in Manitoba say their communities are
still looking for answers after finding possible graves using
ground-penetrating radar at the sites of former residential schools that
were run by the Roman Catholic Church.
Sagkeeng
First Nation found 190 anomalies in the soil and Minegoziibe Anishinabe
First Nation located six. Initial data shows the irregularities fit
some of the criteria for graves, but both communities say more
information is needed.
The news was recently shared with community members.
“We are going to take our time and make sure we do the right thing,” said Sagkeeng Chief Derrick Henderson.
Sagkeeng’s
efforts began last year. Residential school survivors shared their
memories of areas they thought could have graves linked to the Fort
Alexander Residential School.
The
school was opened in 1905 in the community of Fort Alexander, which
later became Sagkeeng First Nation. It ran until 1970 and had a
reputation for abuse. Survivors told the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission about starvation and harsh discipline.
The community worked with a drone company which conducted ground-penetrating radar on three levels.
Henderson
said it found two locations with anomalies. Neither is a known
graveyard, but both were spots residential school survivors had pointed
to on maps before the search began.
Henderson
said leadership will be consulting with elders, survivors and pipe
carriers to decide next steps to confirm whether there are graves.
“How
do we start excavating?” Henderson pondered. “I probably have to bring
in archeologists. There’s a lot of work to be done yet.”
When the information was shared with community members, they had a feast and ceremony, he said.
Many
community members are struggling with unanswered questions as more
anomalies are found, Henderson said. It will take time to find
certainty, he added, and only after that can closure and healing begin.
“Now we know locations. Now we know there’s something.”
At
the Minegoziibe Anishinabe First Nation, six anomalies are under a
church on the site of the former Pine Creek Residential School, said
Chief Derek Nepinak.
Survivors had
asked that the area be examined because of “horror stories” about what
happened in the basement of the church, he said.
The First Nation is treating the area like a potential crime scene, he said.
“We are searching for answers, but what we are doing is arriving at more questions,” he said.
Minegoziibe
Anishinabe also hired a drone technology company that specializes in
ground-penetrating radar. The company used a cart to perform a ground
search under the church due to the confined space, a community notice
said.
Survivors and community members have directed leadership to do another, more detailed radar search of the basement.
The community is still waiting for results from another area that is suspected to have unmarked burial sites, the chief said.
The
Pine Creek school ran from 1890 to 1969 in a few different buildings on
a large plot of land. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
has a record of 21 child deaths at the school and survivors have long
spoken about abuse at the institution.
Nepinak
said the First Nation has gone through records and knows of dozens of
children who died while attending the school but there could be others
who are not part of that history.
Healing will take time, he said. The hope is that it will inform future generations.
“We want the truth to be told and the truth to be known.”
The
Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a
hotline to help residential school survivors and their relatives
suffering from trauma invoked by the recall of past abuse. The number is
1-866-925-4419.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2022.
