Unmarked graves at Regina residential school getting permanent markers
Orange markers have been donated by Pasqua First Nation to the Regina Indian Industrial School (RIIS) Commemorative Association to identify the graves located in the cemetery.
Members of the nation, as well as dignitaries including Mayor Sandra Masters and Lieutenant Governor Russ Merasty, were in attendance for the announcement on Sunday afternoon.
The RIIS Heritage Site is located two kilometres away from the location of the former residential school, a distance Pasqua First Nation Chief Matthew Peigan said was necessary to hide what he calls an “atrocity.”
Pasqua First Nation and Pro Metal Industries donated the 38 grave markers to create a permanent memory of the children who didn’t come home.
The permanent aluminum feather-shaped markers will be placed in the cemetery.
An example of the orange aluminum markers to be placed at each of the 38 children buried at the RIIS Heritage Site. (Kaylyn Whibbs/CTV News)
"We want to help remember and in placing these grave markers I believe for decades we will continue to remember,” said Chief Peigan.
Chief Peigan said a similar offer will be made to other First Nations with unmarked graves, such as Cowessess First Nation and Muskowekwan First Nation.
Chris Scribe, a residential school descendent, said events and fixtures like this brings truth forward, allowing Indigenous people and allies to move forward together.
He said people are visual, meaning we need to see it to believe it.
"When we see something, then we know that it's real. When we see that happening here we know it's real," said Scribe of the markers and being able to see the distance between the graves and the site of the former school.
Two searches have been carried out at the site since its discovery in 2011. First in 2012, when 32 anomalies were found, then again in 2014 when six more were located.
Sarah Longman, chair of the RIIS Commemorative Association, said the search at the historical site will continue with the guidance of elders and survivors.
"When you come out to visit this site we ask that you come here with the knowledge and understanding that we're not done, and that perhaps the ground that we're standing on or the ground that you're sitting on or the ground that you're driving on may actually be a spot," said Longman in her address to the crowd.
The 38 markers were not put up at the site on Sunday, but the commemorative association said the bright orange markers will be in place for the Sept. 30 holiday for truth and reconciliation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING NEWS Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'