Manitoba First Nation to search grounds of former residential school for unmarked graves

One Manitoba First Nation is searching the grounds of a former residential school to locate potential unmarked graves.

In a Tuesday news release, the Cross Lake Band/Pimicikamak Cree Nation said it started an investigation into the St. Joseph’s Residential School, which was managed by the Roman Catholic Church. The residential school located in Cross Lake operated from 1912 to 1969 and was the main residential school for northern Manitoba.

Pimicikamak Cree Nation noted other First Nations across the country have discovered unmarked graves at the sites of residential schools, with Chief David Monias saying it is their duty to find as many of the missing and murdered children as they can.

Monias said in a Tuesday press conference that Elders, “don’t describe it as a school. More like a simulation camps, torture camps, or death camps. And really, that’s an international crime.”

Monias added they have identified 85 names of children who died while attending residential schools in the community. However, the First Nation is unsure where the children are buried or if this list is an actual record of the number of children who died.

There is no start date for the search yet—but a lot of ground will be covered. It will include the entire school site, airport, and land where 25 homes currently sit.

“If you look at the size of a small reserve, it is probably the size of that.”

Cross Lake’s health director, Helga Hamilton said they recently started a new mental health program for people struggling with the burial site searches.

“Give them that safe space to be able to talk about it, to feel safe enough to talk about it, whatever their spiritual beliefs may be, to respect that,” Hamilton said.

The chief says it will take many months to search once it gets started.

The First Nation will search the St. Joseph’s site using ground-penetrating radar, with knowledge keepers and survivors of the residential school playing a role in the investigation.

Pimicikamak also plans to collect information to develop a database with the names of the student who attended the school and where they came from. Professional consultants will review the reported deaths of the children.

“My mom was a survivor,” Hamilton said. “She was at the Macintosh School and she said the same thing. She said they knew that one day little students were there one day, and then the next they died of (tuberculosis).”

Pimicikamak said it is also going to create a memorial monument to honour the students, including all the Cross Lake students who attended other residential schools.

“When you lose an Elder, you lose a part of your history and similarly, when you lose a child, you lose a part of your future. This was the intent of the Canadian government and the religious institutions that were part of the residential school era,” said Chief Monias. “It is called genocide!”

The First Nation is asking all levels of government, as well as the Roman Catholic Church Authority in Manitoba and the Vatican in Rome to collaborate on this investigation. It said it does not want to encounter any obstacles or hindrances as it conducts the investigation.

Pimicikamak said it is hoping to bring healing to residential school survivors and their children.