Canada: More than 600 bodies in a school for indigenous children

Leaders of Canadian Indigenous groups said investigators had found more than 600 anonymous graves at the site of a former residential school for Indigenous children, a find that adds to the report of 215 bodies found at another school.

The bodies were found at the Marieval Indian Residential School, which operated from 1899 to 1997 on the site where the Cowessess Indian Nation now resides, approximately 135 kilometers east of Regina, the capital of Saskatchewan.

An underground search with penetrating radar returned 751 “hits”, indicating that there are at least 600 bodies buried in the area, Cowessess chief Cadmus Delorme said. Radar operators said their results had a 10% margin of error.

“We want to make sure that when we tell our story, we don’t exaggerate the numbers,” said Delorme. “I mean over 600, just to be sure.”

He added that the research is continuing and that a technical team will assess the radar alerts and verify the numbers in the coming weeks.

Delorme said the graves had headstones, but the Catholic Church, which ran the school, removed them.

In a tweet, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “terribly saddened” by the latest discovery.

“My heart is broken for the Cowessess Indian Nation after the discovery of Indian children buried in the former Marieval boarding school,” Trudeau said. “We will speak the truth about these injustices,” he added.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe noted that the entire province is in mourning over the discovery of the graves.

Don Bolen, Archbishop of Regina, posted a letter to the Cowesse on the Archdiocese’s website.

“The news is overwhelming and I can only imagine the pain and waves of emotion that you and your people are feeling right now,” Bolen wrote.

Bolen said that two years ago he apologized to the cowesse for “the failures and sins of church leaders in the past.”

“I know the apology seems like a very small step as the weight of past suffering is brought to light, but I reiterate this apology and promise to do what we can to turn this apology into important concrete deeds, such as l ‘Help with accessing information that will help provide names and information about who was buried in these anonymous graves,’ he said.

Florence Sparvier, 80, said she attended Marieval boarding school.

“The nuns were very mean to us,” he said. “We had to learn to be Catholic. We couldn’t say our own blessings. “

The nuns at the school “condemned our people,” and the pain inflicted continues generations later, Sparvier noted.

“We learned that we didn’t like who we were,” he added. “It went on and on.”

A month ago, the remains of 215 children, some of whom were only 3 years old, were found buried in what was the largest Indigenous residential school in Canada, near Kamloops, British Columbia.

After the discovery, Pope Francis expressed regret and urged religious and political authorities to clarify “this sad matter”. But he did not offer an apology as demanded by Indigenous nations and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“An apology is a step on the road to recovery,” said Delorme.

“It was a crime against humanity, an attack on Indigenous nations,” said Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations of Saskatchewan. He said he expected more graves to be discovered on the grounds of former internees.

“We will not give up until we find all the bodies,” he said.

From the 19th century to the 1970s, more than 150,000 Aboriginal children were forced to attend Christian schools run primarily by Catholic missionaries in order to integrate them into Canadian society.

The Canadian government has acknowledged that sexual abuse and physical mistreatment was common in schools where students were whipped for speaking in their mother tongue.