A residential school class photo is displayed as survivors wait to meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the Williams Lake First Nation, in Williams Lake, B.C., on March 30.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
A prominent First Nation chief has refused to meet with the Prime Minister over concerns about the handling of a former residential school site where suspected unmarked graves were located last year.
Joe Alphonse, Chief of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, said his nation has been excluded from all decision-making around the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School near Williams Lake, B.C., where a geophysical search found 93 possible unmarked graves in 2021.
In January, the provincial and federal governments committed nearly $2-million for continuing search efforts at the site. And on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller visited Williams Lake First Nation to pledge an additional $2.9-million toward healing programs for communities whose children attended St. Joseph’s.
“I think it’s appropriate that the Prime Minister visit the site, we’re not against that,” Mr. Alphonse said. “But our nation has been impacted greatly by St. Joseph’s and we haven’t been involved in the process to remedy the situation at all.”
Much of the tension stems from the vast catchment areas of residential schools, which often encompassed multiple First Nations. During its operation from 1891 until 1981, St. Joseph’s drew students from at least 43 communities as far as 500 kilometres away.
The town of Williams Lake, located in B.C.’s central Cariboo region, is surrounded by 15 First Nation communities, divided among three distinct nations: Secwepemc, Tsilhqot’in and Dakelh.
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Mr. Alphonse says the Williams Lake First Nation, a Secwepemc people, have taken a lead on the search for unmarked graves without adequate input from other communities.
“They’ve chosen to roll out the project however they see fit and only provide us with updates. There’s no collaboration or joint agreement. That’s not respectful. My concern is not just the band, but the government is allowing it to happen.”
He called on the federal government to help create a planning committee to guide the work around unmarked graves in a way that would respect the culture and practices of every nation involved.
In response, Mr. Miller’s office issued a statement encouraging all affected communities to work together. Williams Lake First Nation is leading the search, according to the statement, because “their reserve is adjacent to the former site and therefore closest.” Other communities are eligible for federal research, engagement and commemoration funds.
A government press release stated that the new funding would go toward initiatives that “reflect the diversity of communities impacted” and pay for a temporary commemorative structure at the school site.
Williams Lake First Nation Kukpi7 (Chief) Willie Sellars did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Miller arrived at the Williams Lake First Nation Wednesday morning and met with Mr. Sellars, elders and residential school survivors.
“I am moved to be here,” Mr. Trudeau said. “I am here both to indicate that all of Canada grieves with this community at the loss, the feelings of loss that have come since the discovery of the reflections, but also the deep loss that this community has felt over generations because of the legacy of residential schools. I’m mostly here to listen, to learn, to hear from elders and community members on what the path forward looks like, not just for this community, but for this country, in partnership in respect, reconciliation.”
On Jan. 25, Williams Lake First Nation released preliminary results of a geophysical search of the St. Joseph’s site using ground-penetrating radar. A 14-hectare survey found 93 radar reflections that could be human burials.
The search leader, archeologist Whitney Spearing, said that some of the possible graves could be part of a known historical cemetery and that the presence of human remains could not be confirmed without excavation.
Phase 2 of the search calls for a broadening of the survey area and engaging with affected communities.
The federal and provincial governments committed $1,912,460 to the effort in early January, a fraction of the $354.8-million that Ottawa has earmarked to help Indigenous communities locate unmarked burial sites at former residential schools and support healing efforts.
Earlier this month, Mr. Alphonse was appointed to the Order of British Columbia. He played a key role in the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark Tsilhqot’in decision that confirmed the existence of Aboriginal title over traditional Indigenous territories.
The land St. Joseph’s once occupied is now privately owned. Mr. Alphonse wants a cease-and-desist order placed on the property so that it can be transferred to First Nations ownership.
“It should be under the care and management of all impacted nations,” he said. “Those graves should not be disturbed.”
With a report from The Canadian Press
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