Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Life

More unmarked graves discovered at another Indigenous school in Canada

The Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan says they have uncovered hundreds of unmarked graves.

More unmarked graves discovered at another Indigenous school in Canada
The Qu'Appelle Indian Industrial School, Saskatchewan, Circa 1885. Image - Library and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number PA-182246 and under the MIKAN ID number 3194883. This image is in the Public Domain.
The Qu'Appelle Indian Industrial School, Saskatchewan, Circa 1885. Image - Library and Archives Canada under the reproduction reference number PA-182246 and under the MIKAN ID number 3194883. This image is in the Public Domain.

The Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan says they have uncovered the “horrific and shocking discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves” at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.

According to CBS17.com, a statement from the Cowessess First Nation and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous First Nations, which represents Saskatchewan’s First Nations, said that “the number of unmarked graves will be the most significantly substantial to date in Canada.”

Cowessess Chief Cadmus Delorme and Chief Bobby Cameron of the federation will be holding a news conference on Thursday and will provide more details on what was found at the school, which operated from 1899 to 1997 where Cowessess is now located, about 87 miles east of Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan.

The news comes after the remains of 215 children were discovered at former residential school in Kamloops, B.C. last month.

CTV News Canada is reporting that Niigaan James Sinclair, an Anishinaabe writer and associate professor at the University of Manitoba, says the new discovery of unmarked graves confirms what had been talked about in the community for years.

“The federal government was invited by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 to investigate sites at residential schools and they refused to do so at that point. This is just a long time coming in which communities have been seeking to find out where their children are,” Sinclair said.

Study period at Roman Catholic Indian Residential School, [Fort] Resolution, Northwest Territories. Image courtesy of BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives from Canada. BB SA 2.0.

Sinclair said the trauma associated with the residential schools is something Canada’s Indiginous people are still living with today.

“Every Indigenous community in this country has a story of lost children, has a story of children who went to the schools and never came home,” he said.

Canada had 146 Indigenous residential schools at one time, so Sinclair says it is very likely that more unmarked graves will be found.

“It’s a story that I think Canadians are surprised about because they are not prepared for what has been the truth of this country, which is that this is the kind of abuses that were perpetrated against Indigenous people — my people — for over a century and a half in these places,” Sinclair said.

According to News 1130, the federal government has  offered $27 million in funding for all First Nations communities to help identify and investigate marked and unmarked burial grounds near residential schools.

Avatar photo
Written By

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

You may also like:

Business

South Korean ministries and police said Thursday they were blocking DeepSeek's access to work computers.

Business

Asian markets rose tracking gains on Wall Street and following the US Postal Service's U-turn on a ban on parcels from China and Hong...

World

As tech companies seek energy sources to meet these demands while maintaining their zero-carbon emission commitments, nuclear power has emerged as a compelling option...

World

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a devout Catholic, sparred bitterly with Trump during the 2016 election, but has steadily grown closer to...