'Years of work ahead': Alberta's Indigenous communities to search for and document unmarked graves
The work to search for and document Alberta's unmarked graves and deaths at residential schools will take "years," say those who are partnering with communities on the work.
The University of Alberta's Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology (IPIA) is using ground-penetrating technology and drones to search for unmarked burial sites. It's already partnered with five communities, including the Enoch Cree First Nation and Papaschase First Nation.
Professor Kisha Supernant, who is Métis, said more communities are reaching out after the discovery of 215 unmarked graves in Kamloops and 751 unmarked graves on the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan.
"We've had a pretty steady stream of inquiries and First Nations and Métis communities reaching out to us to talk about ways that they can start this (work)," Supernant said.
She called the news out of B.C. and Saskatchewan heartbreaking, but not surprising.
"I think there are many unmarked graves across many of these landscapes around residential schools, and there are other places where our relatives, our Indigenous relatives, are in unmarked graves and unprotected areas," she said.
FUNDING TO DOCUMENT UNMARKED GRAVES
On Wednesday, the Alberta Government announced $8 million in funding to search and document unmarked graves.
Searching the province could take a long time, Supernant said. Alberta was home to the most residential schools of any province or territory in Canada.
At least 134 schools are recognized in the country, 25 of them were here in Alberta between 1893 and 1996.
At least 134 residential schools are recognized in the country, 25 of them were here in Alberta between 1893 and 1996.
"This is going to have to be addressed on a nation-by-nation basis, to have the community and the family members decided how they want to go forward," said Core Voyageur, a sociology professor at the University of Calgary.
"We can't take the process and the decisions out of the hands of the family and of the First Nations," she said.
Voyageur is a residential school survivor herself, having attended the Holy Angels Residential School in Fort Chipewyan, Alta.
Her research suggests there at least 4,200 students estimated to have died at Canadian residential schools.
"I'm fully expecting that we're going to find human remains in my own community, and this is going to impact my family and friends," Voyageur said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
Crypt near Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner could fetch US$400,000 at auction
A one-space mausoleum crypt in the vicinity of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner will go on auction Saturday, when it is expected to reach between US$200,000 and $400,000.
This Toronto restaurant is no longer accepting tips. Here's how it's going
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff – tipping is no longer accepted.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.