An indigenous group in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan on Thursday said it had found the unmarked graves of an estimated 751 people at a now-defunct Catholic residential school, just weeks after a similar, smaller discovery rocked the country.听
The latest discovery, the biggest to date, is a grim reminder of the years of abuse and discrimination indigenous communities have suffered in Canada even as they continue to fight for justice and better living conditions.听
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was听鈥渢erribly saddened鈥澨齜y the discovery at听Marieval听Indian Residential School about 87 miles (140 km) from the provincial capital Regina. He told indigenous people that听鈥渢he hurt and the trauma that you feel is Canada鈥檚 responsibility to bear.鈥听
It is not clear how many of the remains detected belong to children,听Cowessess听First Nation Chief Cadmus Delorme told reporters, adding that oral stories mentioned adults being buried at the site.听
Mr.听Delorme later told Reuters some of the graves belong to non-indigenous people who may have belonged to the church. He said the First Nation hopes to find the gravestones that once marked these graves, after which they may involve police.听
Mr.听Delorme said the church that ran the school removed the headstones.听
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 remove the headstones. Removing headstones is a crime in this country. We are treating this like a crime scene,鈥澨齢e said.听
The residential school system, which operated between 1831 and 1996, removed about 150,000 indigenous children from their families and brought them to Christian residential schools, mostly Catholic,听run on听behalf of the federal government.听
鈥淐anada will be known as a nation who tried to exterminate the First Nations,鈥澨齭aid Bobby Cameron, Chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, which represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan.听鈥淭his is just the beginning.鈥听
OLD WOUNDS听
Canada鈥檚 Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which published a report that found the residential school system amounted to cultural genocide, has said a cemetery was left on the听Marieval听site after the school building was demolished.听
The local Catholic archdiocese gave听Cowessess听First Nation C$70,000 ($56,813) in 2019 to help restore the site and identify unmarked graves, said spokesperson Eric听Gurash. He said the archdiocese gave听Cowessess听all its death records for the period Catholic parties were running the school.听
In a letter to听Mr.听Delorme on Thursday, Archbishop Don Bolen reiterated an earlier apology for the听鈥渇ailures and sins of Church leaders and staff鈥澨齛nd pledged to help identify the remains.听
Heather Bear, who went to听Marieval听as a day student in the 1970s and is also vice-chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, recalled a small cemetery at the school but not of the size revealed on Thursday.听
鈥淵ou just didn’t want to be walking around alone in (the school),鈥澨齭he recalled. There was a听鈥渟adness that moves. And I think every residential school has that sadness looming.鈥听
The听Cowessess听First Nation began a ground-penetrating radar search on June 2, after the discovery of 215 unmarked graves at the Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia outraged the country. Radar at听Marieval听found 751听鈥渉its鈥澨齛s of Wednesday with a 10% margin of error, meaning at least 600 graves on the site.听
The Kamloops discovery reopened old wounds in Canada about the lack of information and accountability around the residential school system, which forcibly separated indigenous children from their families and subjected them to malnutrition and physical and sexual abuse.听
Pope Francis said in early June that he was pained by the Kamloops revelation and called for respect for the rights and cultures of native peoples. But he stopped short of the direct apology some Canadians had demanded.听
Thursday was a difficult day,听Mr.听Delorme told Reuters. But he wants his young children to know听鈥渨e will get the reconciliation one day with action like today.鈥澨鈥听Anna Mehler听Paperny听and Moira Warburton/Reuters听
