Manitoba First Nation set to excavate area where potential unmarked graves may be
CTV
A First Nations community in western Manitoba is preparing to excavate the ground beneath a Catholic church after potential unmarked graves were found in the area using ground-penetrating radar.
A First Nations community in western Manitoba is preparing to excavate the ground beneath a Catholic church after potential unmarked graves were found in the area using ground-penetrating radar.
Minegoziibe Anishinabe, also known as Pine Creek First Nation, plans to unearth the area under the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Catholic Church beginning on Monday.
The community hired a company to search the site of the former Pine Creek Residential School last year, which detected 14 anomalies beneath the church.
The excavation is expected to take up to a month.
The community says in a release it will be hosting a ceremony before the search is to start and will burn a sacred fire in a safe space next to the excavation site, where the public is welcome to make tobacco offerings.
The Pine Creek school was run by the Roman Catholic Church and operated from 1890 to 1969 in different buildings on a large plot of land.
The initial search also determined there were 57 additional anomalies found on the grounds around the church and old school site, but the community is only looking into the ones found under the church.
