Council formed to help search for possible burial sites at Manitoba’s former residential schools

The search continues for burial sites at former residential schools in Manitoba, and the creation of a new council is expected to facilitate that process.

Indigenous organizations in Manitoba are joining forces with government officials at the municipal, provincial and federal levels to form a council dedicated to the search of potential unmarked graves at former residential schools.

“Indigenous leaders, governments, organizations, communities, elders, knowledge keepers and, most importantly, survivors and families must lead the way as we implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action and locate missing children who died attending residential schools,” Reconciliation Minister Alan Lagimodiere said in a release.

Lagimodiere says the groups will work together to provide guidance on how best to support the Indigenous-led searches.
The Southern Chiefs’ Organization and the province will co-chair the council, which includes representatives from First Nations, Metis and Inuit groups.

The council will also include representatives from residential school health support programs, tribal councils and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR).

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RELATED:

• Alberta First Nation finds 169 ‘anomalies’ at former residential school site (March 1, 2022)
• Saskatchewan First Nation says 54 potential graves found at two former residential schools (Feb. 15, 2022)
• Canada unveils $40 billion First Nations child-welfare settlement (Jan. 4, 2022)

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The NCTR has documented more than 4,000 children who died at residential schools, though it is believed that number is higher. The centre says the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement recognized 14 schools in Manitoba.

“Those First Nations who had residential schools on their lands or adjacent to will require meaningful and long-term support to reclaim and commemorate their loved ones in a culturally meaningful way,” said interim Grand Chief Eric Redhead of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

“Communicating with survivors and gathering their ideas as to how they wish to initiate the forensic and archival research to reclaim the identity of the little ones buried in unmarked graves is key to moving forward regionally.”

Principles for the work are to include putting families and survivors at the heart of all search efforts, offering health supports and protecting burial locations and remains.

“I am pleased to see our relatives and partners, including our treaty partners, coming together to ensure that … we collectively do everything we can to locate those missing children, which is such a vital component of the truth and reconciliation process,” said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the southern chiefs.

“This critical work is just the latest example of how we must do all we possibly can to honour the children who attended Indian residential schools, their families and the thousands of children who never returned home.”

Manitoba previously committed $2.5 million to support identification, investigation, protection and commemoration of children who died while attending residential schools.

The province says there were six First Nation communities in Manitoba actively carrying out searches using ground-penetrating radar as of last December.

—With files from Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press