Alberta First Nation finds 169 ‘anomalies’ at former residential school site

Editor’s note: This article contains details some readers may find distressing.

Emotional support or assistance for those who are affected by the residential school system can call the Indian Residential School Survivors Society’s crisis line 24/7 at: 1 (800) 721-0066.

The Kapawe’no First Nation says a preliminary search of a former residential school site has found 169 “anomalies.”

The findings were made on just one acre of land at the site of the former Grouard Mission residential school.

Chief Sydney Halcrow says the findings validate his members’ lived experiences. He adds the discovery is an important step in the long healing journey.

“These findings validate their lived experiences.”

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Treaty 8 First Nation Grand Chief Arthur Noskey says these findings confirm what they have known all along.

“These were not schools. They were institutions established to kill the Indian in the child. As the number of children found in graves continues to climb, we see it was never about erasing who we are but eradicating us altogether. Genocide.”

The First Nation began searching the site of the former residential school last summer. In the next phases of the search, the Kapawe’no First Nation, located northwest of Edmonton, will further examine areas of a nearby church and RCMP structures that were in place in the area.

The First Nation says there are also 54 potential graves outside of the school’s cemetery site, but it matches previous knowledge of survivors of the school.

The school was opened by the Roman Catholic Church in 1894 and closed about 60 years ago.

“Finding one grave is too much … finding (multiple) is incomprehensible,” said Halcrow. “My thoughts and prayers go out to those … whose loved ones didn’t make it home.

“Our little warriors … have waited to find them, and now we will ensure you rest in peace.”

Halcrow says the search was also fully funded by the First Nation as money from the governments was slow to arrive.

“That’s the way they treat us. If we could have waited, this report would not be done until later next year.”

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Following the announcement, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Minister of Indigenous Relations Rick Wilson responded to the discovery.

“The discovery of anomalies consistent with unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school near High Prairie reminds us of the likelihood that there are unmarked graves of Indigenous children and youth at such sites across the province,” the statement read.

“The Indian Residential School system was a wicked injustice that too often forcibly segregated children from their families and sought to supress Indigenous culture and language.”

The findings from the Kapawe’no First Nation search come after thousands of suspected unmarked graves were found at former residential school sites across Canada over the past year.

Canada’s residential school system forcibly removed thousands of Indigenous children from their families.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its final report on residential schools more than five years ago. The nearly 4,000-page account details the harsh mistreatment inflicted on Indigenous children at the institutions, where at least 3,200 children died amid abuse and neglect. Though Indigenous communities believe that to be higher, the exact number of children who died in residential schools remains unknown.