Search preparations underway for former Battleford Industrial School site. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

Preparations begin

Radar search for graves to start at Battleford Industrial School

May 28, 2022 | 2:01 PM

Preparations began Friday for radar searches for unmarked children’s graves at the former Battleford Industrial School site.

Last year ground searches were done at the site of the St. Henri Residential School in Delmas, so plans were to start searching at the location south of Battleford this summer.

First Nations members and Elders gathered for a pipe ceremony and traditional feast, according to cultural protocols. Town of Battleford representatives also attended, as well as the SNC Lavalin team who will be conducting the search.

Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head Lean Man (MGBHLM) First Nation Chief Tanya Aguilar-Antiman said the search for missing children is a painful issue for everyone.

“This is one of the first Industrial Schools that was closed due to the high ratio of deaths,” she said. “So we know it’s very sensitive, and we know that we need to ensure that we have those supports because a lot of our families in the surrounding area,… the children from those communities were going to school here as well.”

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Next, the dates for the searches will be scheduled.

There is a graveyard near the former residential school where 74 children are buried. So the search will involve looking around the surrounding lands.

The area property is currently owned by MGBHLM First Nation, which purchased the land from the Oblates in 2020.

Grant Beaudry of MGBHLM Economic Development Corp. said the traditional feast and ceremony was also important to recognize the children buried at the Battleford Industrial School Cemetery.

“It’s to honour the children who did not make it home to their First Nations community,” he said.

Beaudry added it’s a difficult time for First Nations people and residential school survivors.

“For some of the Elders here who attended residential schools, they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder,” he said. “It brings back memories of the abuses they endured in residential schools. So it’s a hard topic.”

Battleford Industrial School children’s graveyard shown at a gathering last year. (file photo/battlefordsNOW staff)

Karen Whitecalf, Indian Residential School searches project manager for Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs (BATC), said this gathering will begin the preparations for the search work to follow.

“Right now, it is exploring the land, taking a look at the [children’s] graveyard, and making plans,” Whitecalf said. “Probably within the next week we will have some dates when they [SNC Lavalin] will come and do the GPR [ground penetrating radar].”

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angela.brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW