Caution: Some readers may find details in this story distressing
Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dolleen Logan is calling for support for Williams Lake First Nation following the announcement of its preliminary findings in the St. Joseph's Mission Residential School investigation.
Yesterday (Jan. 25) Williams Lake First Nation announced a recent geophysical survey, which included ground-penetrating radar, revealed the existence of an estimated 93 graves.
These are preliminary findings and the investigation has searched only 14 out of 470 sectors of the site thus far.
The investigation near Williams Lake comes after the use of ground-penetrating radar led to the discovery last year of what are believed to be 215 unmarked graves at a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars said survivors recounted stories of children who were fathered by priests being incinerated, and of "many" children who attended the school being unaccounted for.
"The horrors that occurred inside the walls of St. Joseph's Mission are still very real for those who lived there. And the legacy of these atrocities is still readily apparent in the numerous ways that intergenerational trauma manifests in First Nations communities."
The St. Joseph's Mission Residential School was opened by the Roman Catholic Church in 1891 as an industrial school where First Nations children did labour like timber splitting, cattle rearing and farming, Sellars said. It remained open until 1981.
“It was hard to watch,” said Chief Logan, of the announcement. “If it wasn’t for Kamloops and releasing what their discovery was all of this would still be buried. These 93 children in Williams Lake would have never been found. The incinerator – we don’t know how many people were in there.”
Logan said these findings are the “tip of the iceberg” and that Williams Lake First Nation needs more community support for the ongoing investigation of the St. Joseph’s Mission site.
Many Lheidli T’enneh members attended Lejac Residential School in Fraser Lake, 160 km west of Prince George which is on the traditional territory of Nadleh Whut’en.
“Lejac – I’m not sure when they are going to do that – but it is hitting closer and closer to home,” said Logan. “Lejac is right there, and it is so close, and there are so many untold stories.”
She also called on the federal government and Roman Catholic Church to provide funding and support for the investigations.
“All of our members from residential school went to Lejac and Lheidli is there for anything they need. If they need help searching, or getting funding – anything they need,” said Logan.
“But they shouldn’t have to look for funding. The federal government and the church – everyone – should just be sending them anything they need.”
The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) also issued a statement calling for support for the Williams Lake First Nation.
“Thousands of unmarked burials have been uncovered across Canada over the past several months. Each and every one of these lost children from the horrific Indian Residential School system deserve recognition, remembrance and a chance to be found, no matter how long it takes,” said Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit Political Executive.
“We once again call on the federal and provincial governments to continue providing the necessary resources for each and every First Nation in Canada that had an Indian Residential School in their traditional territory, to undertake the important work of finding the lost children.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the news from Williams Lake First Nation brings a lot of distressing emotions to the surface.
"My heart breaks for the members of the community, and for those whose loved ones (who) never came home," Trudeau said on Twitter.
"Together, with their leadership, we'll continue to advance healing and reconciliation – and share the truths that Indigenous peoples from across the country have long known."
- with files from the Canadian Press
For support for Residential School Survivors or others who are impacted by these difficult findings, please reach out to the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society at 1-800-721-0066 or www.irsss.ca
