George Gordon First Nation announces 8 more potential unmarked burial sites near former residential school

WARNING: This story contains distressing details.

George Gordon First Nation announced Friday that the second phase of its geophysical investigation has detected eight anomalies, consistent with the shape, size and pattern of graves or burials close to the site of the former Gordon's Indian Residential School.

These findings are on top of what the First Nation described as 14 anomalies detected in its Phase 1 search that ended in 2022. The First Nation is located about 95 kilometres north of Regina.

"This recent discovery deepens our collective grief and strengthens our resolve to continue the search for truth and justice for all those affected," George Gordon First Nation Chief Shawn Longman said. 

The surveyed area, he said, has two zones of interest that will require further investigation. 

"We will continue to explore every area with utmost care and respect, ensuring that no possibility is overlooked," Shawn Longman said.

He said he recognizes the grief that's associated with the findings, and he asked community members to support one another, lean on available resources, offer comfort and hold space for healing. 

In 2021, George Gordon First Nation started the journey of trying to locate unmarked graves of former residential school students who never returned to their families, then-chief Byron Bitternose said after the band had completed Phase 1 of the process. 

A committee was formed in 2021 to honour the experiences and memories — and "to acknowledge the genocide and the impact this collective legacy" has on members of the George Gordon First Nation, Bitternose said at the time. 

Sarah Longman, chair of the unmarked graves committee, said on Friday that they identified the areas to investigate after consultation with residential school survivors, descendants and community members. 

She said "this is just the beginning," and that they will be entering Phase 3 of the search, where they'll expand the area of interest where the anomalies have been found. The areas, she said, were and will continue to be identified after consultation with residential school survivors, descendants and community members. 

Phase 2 was the first time, Sarah Longman said, that the band received a federal grant to continue its work. 

"We have covered very small, small sections of this very, very large reserve. To continue to do the searching, we're going to require a whole lot more support," she said. 

Phase 1 of the search involved probing four different areas within the First Nation, where the chief had said they'd detected one high-probability site.