First Nation set to dig under church for potential unmarked graves

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This article was published 20/07/2023 (820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba First Nation’s long-awaited excavation of ground beneath a Catholic church for the potential unmarked graves of residential school children will begin next week.

A company hired last year by Minegoziibe Anishinabe (also known as Pine Creek) had identified 14 anomalies beneath the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Catholic Church using ground-penetrating radar, local officials said in a release Thursday.

The community plans to begin digging Monday. The work may take up to a month to complete.

“We understand that over time, burial sites may be lost to the natural elements, but to bury remains under a building suggests a dark and sinister intent that cannot be unaddressed,” Chief Derek Nepinak said.

The First Nation is located roughly 425 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. The church sits on private land within its boundaries.

Local officials committed to uncovering any potential unmarked graves linked to the former Pine Creek Residential School in 2021, following the announced discovery of 215 such sites in Kamloops, B.C.

Minegoziibe Anishinabe suspects there may be as many as 57 additional unmarked graves in the area, Nepinak said.

The Catholic Church operated the residential school from 1890 to 1969. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has records for the deaths of 21 students at Pine Creek.

Local officials have reached out to the RCMP, Archdiocese of Winnipeg, NCTR, Brandon University, and the federal government for assistance.

Manitoba RCMP announced last fall they would work with the community to investigate potential grave sites.

The excavation will be monitored by security while search efforts are underway. A sacred fire will burn until the work is complete, the First Nation said.

Members of the public are invited to attend, and may be permitted to access the dig site beneath the church on a “case-by-case basis.”

In March, Ottawa said it was considering legislation to protect suspected grave sites and grant communities access to land that is privately owned but believed to be home to unmarked graves.

The final report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada says more than 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attended government-funded, church-run institutions, resulting in an estimated 6,000 deaths.

The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement recognized 14 schools in Manitoba.

First Nations have started ground searches in Brandon, Dauphin, Sandy Bay, Sagkeeng, and Long Plain.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca