Manitoba First Nations leaders say their communities are still looking for answers after finding possible graves by ground-penetrating radars at the sites of former residential schools that were run by the Roman Catholic Church.
The first nation of Sagkeeng found 190 soil anomalies and the first nation of Minegoziibe Anishinabe located six. Initial data show that the irregularities meet some of the criteria for the pits, but both communities say more information is needed.
The news was recently shared with community members.
“We’re going to take our time and make sure we do the right thing,” Sagkeeng chief Derrick Henderson said.
Sagkeeng’s efforts began last year. Residential school survivors shared their memories of areas they thought might have graves linked to Fort Alexander Residential School.
The school opened in 1905 in the community of Fort Alexander, which later became the First Nation of Sagkeeng. It operated until 1970 and was notorious for abuse. Survivors told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission about hunger and harsh discipline.
The community worked with a drone company that conducted a three-level ground penetration radar.
Henderson said he found two locations with anomalies. Nor is it a known cemetery, but both were places that residential school survivors had pointed out on the maps before the search began.
Henderson said the leadership will consult with seniors, survivors and pipe carriers to decide on the next steps to confirm if there are any graves.
“How do we start digging?” Henderson pondered. “I probably have to bring in archaeologists. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”
When the information was shared with community members, they had a party and a 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 will he be able to begin closure and healing.
“Now we know the locations. Now we know there’s something.”
At Minegoziibe Anishinabe First Nation, six anomalies are found under a church on the site of the former Pine Creek residential school, said Chief Derek Nepinak.
Survivors had called for the area to be examined because of “horror stories” about what happened in the church basement, he said.
The First Nation is treating the area as a possible crime scene, he said.
“We’re looking for answers, but what we’re doing is getting more questions,” he said.
Minegoziibe Anishinabe also hired a drone technology company specializing in ground penetration radar. The company used a cart to conduct a search of the ground under the church because of the limited space, a community notice said.
Survivors and community members have led the leadership in another more detailed radar search of the basement.
The community is still awaiting the results of another area suspected of having unmarked burial sites, the chief said.
Pine Creek School operated from 1890 to 1969 in a number of different buildings on a large plot. The National Center for Truth and Reconciliation has a record of 21 child deaths at school and survivors have long spoken of abuses at the institution.
Nepinak said the First Nation has gone through records and knows of dozens of children who died while attending school, but there could be others who are not part of that story.
Healing will take time, he said. The hope is that it will inform future generations.
“We want the truth to be told and known.”
The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Care Program has a hotline to help residential school survivors and their families who suffer trauma invoked by the memory of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 11, 2022.