Search for unidentified graves at Mount Elgin’s former residential school to begin in autumn – London | The Canadian News

On the inaugural National Truth and Reconciliation Day, Thames First Nation’s Chippewa announced plans to search the grounds of the former Mount Elgin residential school in southwestern Ontario this fall.

In May, the remains of 215 children were found buried in anonymous graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.

In the weeks and months that followed, several other Fire Nations in Canada reported the discovery of more than 1,300 unmarked graves on the grounds of former residential schools.

The initial discovery in Kamloops led to requests for research on the grounds of all residential school sites throughout the county.

In a video posted online, Kelly Riley, the Thames First Nation’s Chippewa treaty research coordinator, told viewers that the first step is to investigate to find out who the students were and whether there is a possibility of unmarked graves.

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“It has been 80 years since this school was in operation. First Nations in the west, like Kamloops, the school was still standing, and almost everyone knew where the unmarked burial sites were, ”Riley said.

“We have a very difficult task because we have very few survivors from Mount Elgin Residential School.”

September 30 marks National Truth and Reconciliation Day, a new legal holiday introduced by the Canadian government, drawn from one of the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

September 30 is also the annual Orange Shirt Day, where people wear an orange shirt to honor the survivors of Canada’s residential school system, as well as the thousands of indigenous children who never made it home.

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During its nearly 100 years of operation, Riley said that children from 21 First Nations, including Chippewa of the Thames, attended school. He said they have reached out to all the communities that had children in school.

Chippewa is working to identify all the students who attended the school and create a timeline of their years of operation.

Southern Ontario was home to two residential schools: the Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford and the Mount Elgin Indian Residential School (also known as the Muncey Institute) in Muncey, about 30 kilometers southwest of London, Ontario.

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At least five children are reported to have died at the Mount Elgin School during its operating time from 1851 to 1862 and then from 1867 to 1946.

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Once the investigation is complete, Riley said that if it is determined that there is evidence that there could be unmarked graves, they will use all the necessary technology and equipment, such as ground penetrating radar, to search the grounds.

This fall they will be hiking the grounds several times and will also use a drone to image the area to try to find potential unmarked burial sites.

Riley estimates that it will take three to five years before they are finished.

“That could be one of the end goals, get to a point in time, using the best available resources, put an end to the rumors, some of the oral history that is happening in the community, and in some cases, close the chapter. with certainty. in the Mount Elgin Institute book. “

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) reports that 139 residential schools operated in Canada between 1828 and 1996, 17 of which were in Ontario.

The CVR identified 3,200 deaths as part of its investigation, but indigenous groups in Canada have long insisted that the number is much higher.

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Children in residential schools were victims of physical and sexual abuse by staff, were malnourished or malnourished, and lived in poor housing conditions that threatened their safety, reports the TRC.

In early August, the Canadian government pledged $ 321 million in new funding for programs to help indigenous communities search for cemeteries in former residential schools. The money would also be used to support survivors and their communities, the government said at the time, and a special interlocutor would be designated to help with this work.

“All of these schools, whether it’s Elgin or Mohawk, they all suspect that there is much more to it than is actually recorded,” said Joel Abram, senior chief of the Association of Iroquois Indians and Allies, during an interview with Global News in June.

The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) is available 24 hours a day to anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience.

—With files from Rachel Gilmore and Andrew Graham

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.



Reference-globalnews.ca

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