A cemetery and a boarded-up abandoned building are seen on the former grounds of St. Joseph's Mission Residential School, in Williams Lake, B.C., on March 30, 2022.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Williams Lake First Nation says it has found another 66 possible burials as part of a widening search for unmarked graves on the grounds of a former residential school, raising the contentious possibility of mass excavations in the near future.
“Excavation is the only technique that will provide answers as to whether or not there are human remains present,” said Whitney Spearing, lead investigator for the British Columbia community’s search of nearly 800 hectares of land near the former St. Joseph’s Mission, which operated from 1891 until 1981.
One year ago, the First Nation, located in the province’s interior Cariboo region, announced it had discovered 93 subterranean features that could be human burials. It said it had done this using a complex array of geophysical search technologies, including planes mounted with light detection and ranging (LIDAR) equipment, aerial imagery, magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar. The new announcement brings the number of potential burials to 159.
At the time of the first announcement, Ms. Spearing said that some of the possible graves could be part of a known historical cemetery.
At a Wednesday news conference, she said that none of the new discoveries lie within a documented graveyard.
Community researchers have been working on the search since 2021. They believe that a minimum of 20 children died at the school, and that many are buried throughout the school grounds in unmarked graves. The most recent phase of the search encompassed 18.4 hectares and took technicians 59 days. Researchers identified the plot of land as a possible burial site after archival research and interviews with former students and staff, including one teacher now living in Bangkok.
The team eventually found 66 reflections that “display characteristics indicative of potential human burials,” Ms. Spearing said.
Williams Lake First Nation Kukpi7 (Chief) Willie Sellars said the community would be seeking more government funding to complete the rest of the search, which could include excavation and exhumation.
But such a move could require a momentous consultation effort.
“When we start talking about excavation and exhumation, there are a number of concerns that are raised considering the amount of nations that are impacted,” Mr. Sellars said.
Situated roughly 325 kilometres north of Vancouver, St. Joseph’s Mission took in Indigenous children from at least 43 communities as far as 500 kilometres away. The possibility of excavation raises challenging issues of culture, religion and protocol, said Chief Joe Alphonse, chair of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, which represents six Tsilhqot’in communities, all more than 100 kilometres from Williams Lake.
“If they are going to start digging any of this stuff up without us, we would have to explore legal action,” Mr. Alphonse said. “As far as our nation goes, we would be open to excavation, but all nations would have to work together and be unified.”
Ms. Spearing said during Wednesday’s announcement that the search team had conducted extensive engagement sessions with surrounding communities. But Mr. Alphonse said he wanted direct involvement in the investigation.
Mr. Alphonse said countless Tsilhqot’in attended the school, but that government funding for the search has focused on Williams Lake First Nation because of the community’s closer proximity to the search site.
In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller mentioned only Williams Lake. “My heart goes out to the people of Williams Lake First Nation as they hear of this additional finding,” he wrote. “I have been in contact with Kukpi7 Willie Sellars to offer Canada’s continued support as the community navigates this very difficult time.”
Catholic orders ran the school for much of its 90-year history. The original search area spanned 470 hectares, but new information about possible crimes committed in various outbuildings prompted the search team to expand the investigation to 780 hectares, Ms. Spearing said. Many other First Nations have conducted similar searches at other residential schools and reported preliminary findings over the past two years.
In the 1980s and 1990s, three staff members were convicted of sexually abusing students at the St. Joseph’s school.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s memorial register lists 17 children who died while attending St. Joseph’s. Ms. Spearing said that community research has discovered three more deaths.
The community is holding a sacred fire until Saturday, where community members can remember and honour those who attended the school.
“Holding each other up during these hard times is how we’re going to get through it,” Mr. Sellars said.