WARNING: Some details in this story may be disturbing to some people.
There has been another discovery of human remains in unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school in B.C.
The Lower Kootenay Band confirmed Wednesday that ground-penetrating radar revealed 182 human remains in unmarked graves at the site of the old St. Eugene’s Mission Residential School in Cranbrook, B.C.
The band said some of the remains were buried in shallow graves only three and four feet deep and estimate they are from the member bands of the Ktunaxa Nation, neighbouring First Nations communities and the community of ʔaq̓am.
All children living in the area between the ages of seven and 15 were mandated by law to attend the school where the band said many “received cruel and sometimes fatal treatment.” It estimates that about 100 Lower Kootenay Band members attended St. Eugene’s Mission Residential School.
Read more: Punished and hit for speaking her language, a B.C. residential school survivor is not staying silent
According to the Ktunaxa Nation, the residential school operated for 60 years between 1910 and 1970 but a school first opened on the site in 1890. Thousands of children attended the school.
The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre say there were recurring outbreaks of influenza, mumps, measles, chicken pox, and tuberculosis at the school.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports the Canadian government was responsible for funding the school, which was managed and operated by the Catholic Church from 1890 to 1970.
It was managed by the Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence of Montreal from 1890 to 1929, then the Oblates of Mary Immaculate from 1929 to 1970 and was operated by the Department of Indian Affairs for its final year of operation.
In 2000 the site reopened as the St. Eugene Resort, within the Ktunaxa Community of ʔaq̓am, near Cranbrook, B.C.
Read more: ‘They were monsters that did this’: Kamloops residential school survivor speaks out
The search of the grounds around and near the former school took place in 2020.
The finding follows the discovery of the estimated remains of 215 people at the site of a former residential school in Kamloops and an estimated 751 unmarked graves at the site of the Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the flag on the Peace Tower will remain at half-mast for Canada Day, “as people across the country continue to honour the Indigenous children whose lives were taken far too soon, and as we reflect on the tragedy of residential schools.”
As people across the country continue to honour the Indigenous children whose lives were taken far too soon, and as we reflect on the tragedy of residential schools, I have asked that the flag on the Peace Tower remain at half-mast for Canada Day.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 30, 2021
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.
