'We want to heal peacefully:' Families of survivors gather for Delmas residential school search yorktonthisweek.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yorktonthisweek.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
DELMAS, SASKATCHEWAN – For elder Jenny Spyglass, returning to the site of a former residential school in Saskatchewan where a search for unmarked graves is underway brought back memories of what she lost.
Spyglass, now in her 70s, was taken to the Delmas/Thunderchild Indian Residential School, located 160 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, when she was three years old.
Her brother died there of starvation at age four, she said.
“This is where they took my culture away,” she said. “They took my language away from me. They took that love away from my mom. A two- or three-year-old girl would love to have their mom with them every day, every morning, feeding them, loving them. I didn’t have that, growing up.”
Melfort, SK, Canada / CJVR Today s Best Country
Jul 19, 2021 | 3:31 PM
Chief Wayne Semaganis of Little Pine First Nation speaking at Saturday s presser. He said he wants the federal to meet with Treaty Chiefs to discuss business with the First Nations people and honor the agreement between them and Canada. pic.twitter.com/HrkIan4PGi
The radar search for graves at the former residential school site at Delmas could take many more months before it is fully complete.
Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs project lead on the ground searches, Karen Whitecalf, says more areas for this site still need to be searched.
She said the land changed hands so it is not easy to know where the graves would be located exactly.
Radar search for graves at site of former residential school in Delmas a long process panow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from panow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The grave of residential school student Henry Achenam. Chief Lori Whitecalf and BATC executive director Neil Sasakamoose at Henry Achenam’s grave. Photos by John Cairns The search for graves of those who attended the former Delmas Indian Residential School site has begun. On Saturday morning, the search for unmarked graves began with the use of ground-penetrating radar on the grounds of the former Thunderchild/St. Henri Indian Residential School which burned down in 1948. The ground-penetrating radar was conducted by SNC-Lavalin and that was expected to run until 5 p.m. on Saturday, and then continue again Sunday. According to Neil Sasakamoose of Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs, the plan is to finish grid one at the actual residential school site this weekend and look at the data Monday. The plan is then to finish grid two and grid three at the residential school site, before moving on to potential sites located against buildings inside the town.