The lead investigator in the search for unmarked graves at a former residential institution near the Williams Lake First Nation in central British Columbia said the latest phase of their work has uncovered 66 additional B次元官网网址渞eflections,B次元官网网址� indicating childrenB次元官网网址檚 graves.
Whitney Spearing told a news conference that the results of Phase 2 of their investigation show there were crimes committed against children associated with the Catholic operation of St. JosephB次元官网网址檚 Mission Residential School.
Spearing said in addition to the reflections found in a technical survey, their interviews with survivors and archival records revealed that babies born as a result of child sexual assault at the former Catholic mission were disposed of by incineration on and off-site.
Spearing said they found B次元官网网址渁 minimumB次元官网网址� of 28 children died at the mission, which operated between 1886 and 1981, many of them buried in unmarked graves around the site.
A year ago, the nation announced the first phase of its investigation had uncovered 93 other B次元官网网址渞eflections.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淧hase one looked at an area immediately adjacent to the historic buildings of the mission proper. Phase two is across the San Jose River by the railway right-of-way B次元官网网址� so on the completely opposite side of the river,B次元官网网址� she told Black Press Media.
Survivor interviews, testimony, traditional use interviews over the years, saw B次元官网网址渢onsB次元官网网址� of people mention burials which made that an B次元官网网址渙bvious place to start.B次元官网网址�
Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellers said the next steps will be to potentially exhume bodies in the areas that have already been scanned, showing a total of 159 possible unmarked graves.
He says children from 48 different nations attended the school, and engaging with those nations in the process of potentially exhuming bodies is a B次元官网网址渟cary thought.B次元官网网址�
Phase three is already underway with archival and photographic research and field work will begin mid-March as soon as most of the snow is off the ground, Spearing said.
It will start with a pedestrian survey, which means walking over the area, followed up with the ground penetrating radar (GPR) work.
GeoScan, the company helping with the investigation, can give them 40 field days this season, she added.
B次元官网网址淭here is not a lot of capacity across the country to do GPR, and GeoScan has been pulled into another three or four investigations, so they are feeling the crunch. We donB次元官网网址檛 want to take bread out of anyone elseB次元官网网址檚 basket. We want to ensure that everyone has access to their expertise.B次元官网网址�
It is important for people to know the team is talking about excavation and exhumation, Spearing said, but emphasized there is a lot of leg work that needs to be done before any of those processes could even begin.
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 want anyone to think we will be out there with shovels digging and attempting to find human remains next year. ItB次元官网网址檚 not going to roll out that way.B次元官网网址�
She said they will definitely be in contact with the coronerB次元官网网址檚 service and are also in contact with the church Oblates to gain control of the cemetery which is still owned by them.
Sellars said 30 chiefs from various nations and some of their staff attended an online session in the morning where the investigation results were shared with them before being made public.
B次元官网网址淭hey asked lots of questions - the dialogue was great,B次元官网网址� Sellars said. B次元官网网址淭hey are thankful for information. ThatB次元官网网址檚 what everybody wants. They want to know what is going on.B次元官网网址�
After the media conference, sharing the information, a sacred fire was lit outside the Elizabeth Grouse gym at WLFNB次元官网网址檚 Sugar Cane community with more than 100 people - First Nations and non-First Nations - standing in a large circle.
Various people sang drumming songs, some made food and tobacco offerings into the fire, and several people spoke - some about their experiences with residential school and trauma.
Sellars said the fire will continue until Saturday evening, culminating with a powwow demonstration, ceremony, feast and lahal.
B次元官网网址淲e are uplifting people with ceremony, but we are also hoping to inspire and strengthen people so that they can step forward and feel comfortable about telling their story,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e are finding at ceremonies survivors will share their stories and talk about their past.B次元官网网址�
ThatB次元官网网址檚 not necessarily the case for a lot of residential school survivors, he added.
B次元官网网址漃eople refuse to talk about it still and we need to get past that if we can and hold them up.B次元官网网址�
Spearing and Sellars continued to encourage people to ask questions or share information with the team.
B次元官网网址淪itting down and having dialogue is how we are going to move through this, collectively. There has to be someone that leads the investigation, but hey, we need input and we want information as well,B次元官网网址� Sellars said.
Thankful for the turnout at the sacred fire, he said seeing the number of non-First Nations people participate was B次元官网网址渦nbelievable.B次元官网网址�
The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help residential school survivors and their relatives suffering with trauma invoked by the recall of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.
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