THE BATTLEFORDS — The search for unmarked graves in Battleford at the site of a former residential school culminated on May 25 with a feast open to the public, with results expected sometime in June.
The ground penetrating radar at the site of a former industrial school and seat of government began on May 19, jump-started by Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head Lean Man First Nation after they were awarded $5.82 million from the provincial and federal government to fund the creation of an interpretive cultural centre at The Ridge.
Organizers of the Feast at the Ridge included Alayna and Shalice Tootoosis, Cheryl Starr, Fenton Favel, Grant Beaudry and Chris Odishaw pictured left to right.
“The purpose is to find our people and the First Nation children who went to these schools that never made it home and were never accounted for,” Grant Beaudry, CEO of MGBHLM Econmoic Development Corporation Inc., told the News-Optimist in an earlier statement
“We can’t just go in and build … we have to respect,” Beaudry said, adding that “...we remember those who have passed before," which is why the feast was held.
The search, with the help of the University of Saskatchewan's anthropology and archaeology department, began with opening prayers aided by FSIN Senator Jenny Spyglass and a pipe ceremony at the site of the school on the morning of May 19.
If remains are found, Beaudry noted that it will be like saying, ‘I found you’ to the missing Indigenous children.
“We’ll recognize where they’re located … respect that site and mark it.”
Beaudry also noted that the university is expediting this process, with results expected to be known within the next three to four weeks before the ground is broken later this year for the new interpretive centre and art gallery.
