The Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan says hundreds of unmarked graves have been discovered on the grounds of a former residential school—the most identified at one site, to date, in Canada.
Chief Cadmus Delorme announced the discovery today following a radar search of the grounds at what was once the Marieval Indian Residential School.
He says there are 751 flags placed along the field at each point the radar search returned a hit. While there is a chance for false returns, they are confident that they have located over 600 unmarked graves.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says the gravesite was overseen by the Roman Catholic Church from 1886 to the 1970s, and accuses the church of removing headstones from the site in the 1960s.
(Chief Cadmus Delorme, via CPAC.)
Chief Delorme said, “This is not a mass gravesite; it is unmarked graves. Our end goal is to locate, identify, and put a mark down honouring our loved ones.”
He stated that the removal of a headstone is a crime in Canada, and as such, they are treating the grounds as a crime scene.
Delorme says, based on local stories, it is likely that not all graves are those of children. He is calling on Pope Francis to apologize for what happened, and the impact that it had on the community and their descendants.
In St. John’s, the fence to the colonial building has been adorned with hundreds of patches of felt as a memorial to the 215 children whose remains were recently found in unmarked graves in Kamloops, British Columbia.
The discovery sent shockwaves across the country—reigniting calls for government to take action on the path of reconciliation, and to follow the recommendations set forth in the report on truth and reconciliation.
Orange rocks bearing messages of “All Children Matter,” and placards with similar messages were placed along the fence lining the grounds of the colonial building.
There is a growing number of calls for similar searches to be conducted for unmarked graves across the country.
Premier Andrew Furey states that Indigenous leaders will have government’s support when it comes to their decision on the approach they wish to see regarding unmarked burial sites in this province.
Four residential schools were operated in Labrador and one in Newfoundland.
