Northern Manitoba First Nation to search former residential school grounds for unmarked graves

A Manitoba First Nation plans to search the grounds of a former residential school for potential unmarked graves.

In a Tuesday announcement, the Pimicikamak Cree Nation said they have identified the names of 85 children who died at St. Joseph’s Residential School, which operated in Cross Lake, Man. between 1912 and 1969. Surviving records, however, remain incomplete.

“Many of them are listed as ‘boy,’ as ‘girl,’” Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias told reporters Tuesday. “Forty per cent of them have first names only. Where did these kids come from?”

Run by the Roman Catholic Church, St. Joseph’s was the main residential school in northern Manitoba. Investigators plan to use ground-penetrating radar at the site of the former school, part of which is now a neighbourhood with homes.