88 possible unmarked graves found at a residential school in Northern Alberta
Global News
Sucker Creek First Nation Chief Roderick Willier remembers never feeling safe during the decade he spent at a residential school in northern Alberta.
Sucker Creek First Nation Chief Roderick Willier remembers never feeling safe during the decade he spent at a residential school in northern Alberta.
“I always had to stay on high alert when I was there,” Willier said, as he recalled his time between the age of seven and 17 at St. Bruno’s Indian Residential School in Joussard, Alta., about 335 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
“I was always told, ‘Oh, you got to be careful of them (at residential school).”’
University of Alberta researchers recently found evidence of 88 potential unmarked graves near the former school.
Dr. Kisha Supernant, who led the search, said the project focused on the areas pointed out by residential school survivors and elders of the community.
Supernant’s team surveyed 4,500 square metres of land, using ground-penetrating radar to look for pits or grave shafts.
She said the team found signs of unmarked graves outside of the school cemetery area at two locations — one of them close to the workshop on the school’s grounds, the other near the priest’s residence.
Supernant, who has family roots in Joussard, said the research team recommends further investigation for graves found outside of a cemetery on the grounds of a school.