`WE WILL FIND SOME OF THEM'

FSIN chief says $2M from province is `a start' in search for graves

The head of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) says the province's pledge of $2 million to search for and investigate undocumented deaths and burials on the sites of former residential schools is “a tremendous start.”

Chief Bobby Cameron said the money will allow the FSIN to begin its research, though far more is needed. He said the FSIN asked the federal government for $5 million. The initial focus will be on the former residential schools of Muskowekwan, Onion Lake St. Anthony's, Beauval, Guy Hill, Lebret, and Sturgeon Landing, but Cameron said the list could grow.

“We think of Gordon's, George Gordon First Nation, we think of the Beauval Indian Education Centre, we think of Timber Bay, which was not a federal-run school but a provincial-run residential school,” said Cameron.

He said the money could pay for ground-penetrating radar, but also to collect stories from survivors.

“We want to thank all those survivors and their descendants for what they've done for us over many, many decades in telling these stories, telling these stories for many, many decades,” said Cameron.

“And now, people are believing them.”

In announcing the funding, Don Mcmorris, Saskatchewan's minister responsible for First Nations and Métis, said the provincial government owes it to those who were lost and those who continue to suffer from the loss of residential schools. He said facing the truth will make for a stronger Saskatchewan.

“Part of this collective grief that we feel as a society is that there are so many questions that remain unanswered, and so many records and details that have been lost about these children who attended the schools,” said Mcmorris during a video conference with journalists.

“To this day, it remains unclear just how many children may have been laid to rest, away from their families and loved ones, without cultural ceremonies at residential school sites across the country — some, perhaps, right here in this province.”

News of the bodies discovered near Kamloops prompted an outpouring of grief across the country, including in Saskatchewan, where a memorial of children's shoes covered the steps of the Legislative Building for days, before activists removed them and reportedly donated them to charity.

Pipe ceremonies in and around Regina honoured the dead and wished their spirits a safe journey.

Premier Scott Moe had originally called on the federal government to support the effort just days after the discovery near Kamloops. First Nations leaders believe similar undocumented burials may have occurred on the site of some of Saskatchewan's 20 former residential schools.

Mcmorris again called on the federal government to contribute by matching the provincial commitment announced Friday. Though Ottawa has said $27 million can be made available, Mcmorris said the province doesn't yet have a “clear signal.”

“This is a federal government responsibility,” he said. “We expect them to step up.”

The federal government was responsible for overseeing the residential school system, which separated First Nations children from their families and suppressed their culture, though churches generally operated the facilities.

So far, Pope Francis has stopped short of apologizing for the role of the Catholic Church in the abuse and neglect that was pervasive in residential schools. Cameron called on the pontiff to actually visit Saskatchewan to do so. The FSIN chief called it “crucial” to ask for forgiveness.

Cameron said the lands where children's bodies are found will need to be turned into sacred sites.

Some, he knows, will never be found. “We will never find those ones who have escaped those institutions for many, many decades, and were lost in the bushes in the country and perished due to the elements, we will never find those ones,” he said.

“But we will find some of them.”

It remains unclear just how many children's may have been laid to rest, away from their families and loved ones.