Americas

Home page

Americas

182 human remains discovered at former St. Eugene's residential school in Canada

01 July 2021 04:15 (UTC +04:00)

Another 182 human remains have been found in unmarked graves in Canada - this time at the former St. Eugene's Mission Residential School in British Columbia (B.C.), according to a statement on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Anadolu Agency.

It is the third former Indian residential school operated by the Catholic Church. The St. Eugene's Mission school opened in 1912 and closed in 1970.

"It is believed that the remains of these 182 souls are from the member Bands of the Ktunaxa Nation, neighboring First Nations communities, and the community of Aq'am," read a media release from the band.

"The findings revealed 182 human remains in unmarked graves. Some of the human remains were buried in shallow graves only 3-4 feet deep," it added.

First Nations children between 7 and 15 years old were taken from their families and forced to attend St. Eugene's, near the city of Cranbrook.

As with earlier 215 discoveries at the Kamloops, B.C. school in May and 751 in Saskatchewan on the Cowessess First Nation Reserve, ground-penetrating radar was used to locate the unmarked graves of children belonging to the Ktunaxa Nation (Lower Kootenay Band) and other nearby First Nations bands.

Chief Jason Louie of the Ktunaxa Nation said in a television interview: "You can never fully prepare for something like this."

Bob Chamberlin, former vice president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, said more horrors await as other former residential schools are checked.

"I believe we are at the very tip of the iceberg," he said in a television interview.

The first Indian residential school was opened in the 1820s and 139 operated across Canada - the last one closed in 1996. The goal was to have the students adopt white culture.

About 150,000 First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children went through the schools, taken from their parents by force if necessary. Survivors tell chilling tales of physical, mental, and sexual abuse.