Fifty-four Unmarked Graves in Saskatchewan, Canada

Fifty-four unmarked graves at two former Indian Residential Schools in Canada have been located with ground-penetrating radar, the Keeseekookse First Nation disclosed Tuesday, adding to a growing tally of such burials that shocked the nation last year.

“Canadians still cannot believe a human being could treat another human being, especially a child, like the way we were treated”, said Keeseekookse Chief Lee Kitchemonia (right). 

The graves were located at the sites of the Fort Pelly and St. Philip's Residential Schools near Kamsack, both in Saskatchewan province. Rumors about the graves had circulated for years in the Keeseekookse community. 

The two schools were run by the Catholic Church on behalf of the federal government – St Phillip’s from 1905 to 1913 and Fort Pelly from 1928 to 1969. The former had a reputation for sexual abuse and brutality. 

Chief Lee Kitchemonia suggested the children “could potentially have been, you know, murdered”, saying more investigation is needed. 

About 150,000 Indigenous children from First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples were taken from their homes, more often than not by force, from across Canada and made to attend 139 Indian Residential Schools, beginning in the 1820s. The last one closed in the 1990s. 

The idea was to totally extinguish Indigenous culture. Many students were subjected to physical and sexual abuse by headmasters and teachers. And those who died, were mostly dumped in unmarked graves. 

A truth and reconciliation commission documented abuses at the schools and the deaths of more than 4,000 students mostly from malnutrition, disease and suicide – in a 2015 report calling it “cultural genocide”. 

Since May 2021, more than 1,300 graves have been discovered. 

As more graves are uncovered, Chief Kitchemonia posed a question: "Who is going to be accountable for this?”