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“Many children died at the institute,” Hill said, reading from a letter sent to Six Nations police Chief Darren Montour on behalf of herself and other survivors. “We do not know what happened to them or where they are buried.
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“We request the police to investigate the deaths of these children and where they are buried. We need answers and we need to find the children.”
Chief Mark Hill of Six Nations of the Grand River said the survivors’ “official request” is enough to trigger a multi-police force criminal investigation into what happened to 54 children whose death records were filed at the school.
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In a brief news conference held outside the former school, Six Nations of the Grand River elected Chief Mark Hill called for a probe by Ontario Provincial Police, as well as Brantford and Six Nations police, into the children who died at the Mohawk Institute, which was Canada’s longest-running residential school.
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Hill said the Truth and Reconciliation Committee discovered at least 54 death records associated with the school.
“We don’t know where those little bodies are buried,” said Hill, citing that the school was relocated and destroyed twice by fire, making the search even more difficult.
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Local Indigenous leaders on Wednesday called for a criminal investigation over children they say went missing from the former Mohawk Institute residential school in Brantford
In a brief press conference, Six Nations of the Grand River Chief Mark Hill called for a probe by Ontario provincial police, as well as Brantford and Six Nations police, into the children – at least 54, he said – who died at the Mohawk Institute, which was Canada’s longest-running residential school.
“What we don’t know is where those little bodies are buried,” he said. The probe will be in consultation with school survivors.
TORONTO The elected chief of Six Nations of the Grand River says the search for unmarked graves at the former site of a residential school in southwestern Ontario should be treated as a criminal investigation. Chief Mark Hill issued the call on Wednesday along with survivors of the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School in Brantford, Ont. He says the First Nation is urging police forces to collaborate with the community on the effort. Hill says 54 deaths were recorded at the former residential school but the graves of those individuals are unknown. He says Six Nations will provide $1 million to support the creation of a survivor secretariat that will help with the search effort.
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