TRIGGER WARNING: This announcement pertains to investigations being conducted at former Indian Residential School grounds. Discretion is advised.
WAUZHUSHK ONIGUM NATION – At the direction of Wauzhushk Onigum Nation and the Kaatagoging Survivors Group of the St. Mary’s (Kenora) Residential School Survivor Project, Investigative Solutions Network – Maskwa (ISN Maskwa) conducted cadaver dog ground searches in and around the old school grounds from August 14 – 16, 2023. Over the three days of searching, there were a total of 22 “alerts” from canines, indicating the presence of historic human remains. 19 of these 22 alerts overlap with areas identified by Survivors as potential burial sites from residential school times. The work was carefully guided by an Elders/Survivors council and followed customary protocols for protection and respect. The work has received financial support from both Canada and Ontario.
The cadaver dog search findings will be combined with previous and ongoing land search work in the area to create an integrated, comprehensive report, expected early next year. To date, search technologies employed include Survivor testimony, ground-truthing, archaeological assessment, ground penetrating radar (GPR), photogrammetry, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR). Earlier this year, the Nation released a report stating that up to 171 anomalies had been identified within the former school grounds. These 22 alerts from the cadaver dogs are in addition to the 171 anomalies identified earlier.
“During this extremely difficult time, I want to address all Survivors of the dark legacy of the Indian Residential schools across Turtle Island. Survivors, I acknowledge you, I acknowledge your strength, your kids, your grandkids. I honour your beautiful spirit names. Canada and the churches tried to eradicate you, eradicate us, and they sure did a good job of trying, but here we are. We still have our laws, we have our ceremonies, we have our traditions. Today, I honour you for standing firm, for sharing, for guiding, for showing us. It is your testimony, your strength, your guidance that will continue to move us forward”
Chief Chris Skead, Wauzhushk Onigum.
At this time, the Nation requests that their privacy be respected. The Nation will continue to inform the country of findings as they emerge.
Background
Canada’s Indian Residential School System
Canada’s Indian Residential School System, in operation from 1831 through 1996, existed with the express purpose of assimilating Indigenous students into Euro-Canadian culture. An estimated 150,000 children attended these schools; former students regularly describe overwhelmingly negative experiences in which extreme physical, psychological, sexual, and spiritual abuse pervaded. Over 6,000 children are known to have died, however records are incomplete, and this number is believed to be much higher.
St. Mary’s (Kenora) Indian Residential School
St. Mary’s (Kenora) Indian Residential School (“St. Mary’s”) was a Roman Catholic residential school in operation between 1897 and 1972. Between 1897 and 1937 St. Mary’s changed names a total of three times, also being known as the Rat Portage Boarding School, the Kenora Boarding School, and the St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic School before being changed to St. Mary’s in 1938. During the 1960s, St. Mary’s began integrating students into the local day school system.
Over 6,114 children attended St. Mary’s from sixteen Treaty #3 communities, seven communities in Manitoba, and ten eastern communities during its 75 years of operation. According to records provided by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, at least 36 children died while the school was in operation. Based on conversations with survivors, and their testimonies, the true number is believed to be significantly higher.
The Kaatagoging Project
This multi-year project has three overarching goals: uncover the truth, locate the unmarked graves, and establish a pathway to healing, including appropriate memorialization of students who were lost. The location work will involve archaeological assessment and the use of ground penetrating radar, among other field methods. The entire process is guided by ceremony and implements trauma-based approaches to healing and care as the community undertakes this difficult work. The process is also guided by four traditional principles including:
- Bebekaa (take our time) – undertake due process to make sure protocols are respected.
- Weweni (doing it right) – do things properly, from the beginning.
- Biiziindun (listen) – a commitment to listen to Elders, survivors, men, women, and youth.
- Gego Gotachiken (don’t be afraid) – we have been taught to be afraid, but we will not be afraid of implementing traditional laws and principles.
These principles further emphasize the sacred nature of this work and convey the long timeline that is expected. The need for healing is a very culture-specific process and involves acknowledgement of how the land, the language, and the people are forever connected. In this vein, the Kaatagoging Survivors Group emphasizes the fallacy of the Doctrine of Discovery – the land was not “discovered” by settlers as the fifteenth century papal bulls proclaim but has, instead and always, belonged to the First Peoples. These beliefs, and subsequent legal and moral justifications for colonial dispossession, must also be healed and reconciled.
The work undertaken by the Nation has been informed first and foremost by Anishinaabe protocols. The Kaatagoging Survivors Group has established several protocols, including a Search Protocol, a Material Archives Protocol, a Drum Feast Protocol, a Healing Protocol, a Working Together Protocol, an External Communications Protocol, an Information Sharing Protocol, and a Forensics Technical Guidance Protocol.
Human Remain Detection Dogs/Cadaver Dogs
“Human remain detection dogs” are trained to detect older remains – up to 100 years old or more – primarily through the scent of bones, tissue, and teeth that are buried underground (ISN Maskwa report, September 29, 2023). The dogs can pick up scents buried ten feet or even deeper underground and are able to distinguish between human and animal remains. The benefits of using the dogs over other search technologies include the ability to cover large areas of ground relatively quickly and the dogs’ ability to access and search areas where other technologies, such as GPR, are not able to operate.
For Additional Information
- Please direct all inquiries to: Somia Sadiq – [email protected]