SECHELT — The shishalh First Nation says 41 “additional unmarked graves” have been found as a result of a search with ground-penetrating radar on the site of a former residential school.
The nation on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast says a team has been scanning the area around the St. Augustine’s Residential School site for the last 18 months, at locations identified through interviews with survivors.
It says the discovery brings the number of suspected graves at the site to 81, after initial findings that were announced in 2023.
First Nations communities have tended to use careful language when announcing the findings of such searches, ranging from anomalies and areas of interest to possible graves, but the shishalh statement says graves were “identified by archeologists.”
The nation says children from its community as well as 53 others from as far away as Saskatchewan were at the residential school, and it has been working with those communities in the search for possible graves.
The nation previously announced in April 2023 the discovery of what are believed to be 40 unmarked grave sites on and around St. Augustine’s.
Chief Lenora Joe says in a statement the latest discoveries aren’t surprising, and the nation “always had enough proof.”
