GROUARD, Alberta — A total of 169 potential unmarked graves were discovered on the grounds of a Catholic boarding school in Alberta, Canada, the Kapawe’no First Nation announced Tuesday, continuing the uncovering of a dark history at Indigenous boarding schools.
The Indigenous tribe, located more than 200 miles northwest of Edmonton, said a team from the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology at the University of Alberta conducted a six-day search in October 2021 at the former site of St. Bernard’s Indian Residential School using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and drone imaging.
The search was phase one of a three-phase plan. Phase one focused on high-priority areas identified by survivors, community members, and tribal records. Using GPR and drone imaging, researchers searched nearly an acre of land around the boarding school, including a community cemetery, areas surrounding the boarding school's church and the former residence for nuns and an old root cellar.
Eight "likely graves" and 107 "probable graves" were found unmarked in the cemetery alone. Potential unmarked graves were located at all of the areas searched but additional analysis is needed for confirmation. Overall, 169 potential graves were discovered on the grounds.
"Each of these children was a beloved part of a family and no one has been held accountable," said Dr. Kisha Supernant, who led the research team. "The preliminary results of phase one indicate there's much more to do to find answers."
From the 19th century until the 1970s, more than 150,000 First Nations children were required to attend state-funded Christian schools as part of a program to assimilate them into Canadian society. Many were beaten and verbally abused, and up to 6,000 are said to have died, the Associated Press reported in 2021.
The Canadian government apologized in Parliament in 2008 and admitted that physical and sexual abuse in the schools was rampant.