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| Residential Schools in Canada |
Mass Graves at former Indian Residential Schools and Hospitals across Canada
Trigger warning for content. This list of 28 mass graves of Native children who died of starvation, disease, torture, and murder, at residential schools in Canada was published in 2008.
By Hidden from History
Published at Atlantic Free Press
Contributed by Brenda Norrell
April 15, 2008
Updated on Censored News January 2023
The information was published by Hidden from History from historical data and survivor and eyewitness accounts. The children were stolen from their families by churches and government Indian agents. Parents who hid their children were to be imprisoned, by Canadian law.
Instead of being schools, these were militarized prison facilities where children were incarcerated and subjected routinely to beatings and abuse. -- Censored News.
Children to be asked in ceremony for permission to search for graves. Sept. 2021
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/ceremony-residential-schools-ontario-1.6179800
A. British Columbia
1. Port Alberni:
Presbyterian-United Church school (1895-1973), now occupied by the
Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council (NTC) office, Kitskuksis Road . Gravesite is a series of sinkhole rows in hills 100 metres due west of the NTC building, in thick foliage, past an unused water pipeline. Children also interred at Tseshaht reserve cemetery, and in wooded gully east of Catholic cemetery on River Road.
2. Alert Bay :
St. Michael’s Anglican school (1878-1975), situated on Cormorant Island offshore from Port McNeill. Presently the building is used by Namgis First Nation. The site is an overgrown field adjacent to the building, and also under the foundations of the present new building, constructed during the 1960s. Skeletons seen “between the walls”.
3. Kuper Island: Catholic school
(1890-1975), offshore from Chemainus. The land occupied by Penelakut Band. The former building is destroyed except for a staircase. Two grave sites: one immediately south of the former building, in a field containing a conventional cemetery; another at the west shoreline in a lagoon near the main dock.
9. Williams Lake: Catholic school (1890-1981), buildings destroyed but foundations intact, five miles south of city. Gravesites reported north of school grounds and under foundations of the tunnel-like structure.
10. Meares Island (Tofino): Kakawis-Christie Catholic school (1898-1974). Buildings incorporated into Kakawis Healing Centre. Body storage room reported in the basement, adjacent to burial grounds south of the school.
11. Kamloops : Catholic school (1890-1978). Buildings are intact. Mass grave south of the school, adjacent to and amidst orchard. Numerous burials witnessed there.
12. Lytton: St. George’s Anglican school (1901-1979). Graves of students flogged to death, and others, reported under floorboards and next to the playground.
13. Fraser Lake: Lejac Catholic school
(1910-1976), buildings destroyed. Graves reported under old foundations and between the walls.
Alberta:
1. Edmonton: United Church school (1919-1960), present site of the Poundmaker Lodge in St. Albert . Graves of children reported south of former school site, under the thick hedge that runs north-south, adjacent to memorial marker.
2. Edmonton: Charles Camsell Hospital (1945-1967), building intact, an experimental hospital run by Indian Affairs and United Church. Mass graves of children from the hospital reported south of the building, near staff garden.
4. Hobbema: Ermineskin Catholic school (1916-1973), five intact skeletons observed in school furnace. Graves under former building foundations.
Manitoba:
1. Brandon: Methodist-United Church school (1895-1972). Building intact. Burials reported west of the school building. 2. Portage La Prairie: Presbyterian-United Church school (1895-1950). Children buried at nearby Hillside Cemetery.
3. Norway House:
Methodist-United Church school (1900-1974). “Very old” gravesite next to the former school building, demolished by United Church in 2004.
Ontario:
1. Thunder Bay: Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital, still in operation. Experimental centre. Women and children reported buried adjacent to hospital grounds.
6. Brantford: Mohawk Institute, Anglican church (1850-1969), building intact. Series of graves in the orchard behind the school building, under rows of trees.
7. Sault Ste. Marie: Shingwauk Anglican school (1873-1969), some intact buildings. Several graves of children reported on grounds of the old school.
Saskatchewan
Update January 2023:
 |
| Harriet Nahanee, an eyewitness to the murder of Maise Shaw on Dec. 24, 1946, at the Alberni School (1995.) Harriet, one of the first to speak out publicly, died of pneumonia and lung cancer after being jailed for activism to protect the environment in 2007. |
A. British Columbia
1. Port Alberni:
Presbyterian-United Church school (1895-1973), now occupied by the
Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council (NTC) office, Kitskuksis Road . Gravesite is a series of sinkhole rows in hills 100 metres due west of the NTC building, in thick foliage, past an unused water pipeline. Children also interred at Tseshaht reserve cemetery, and in wooded gully east of Catholic cemetery on River Road.
 |
| Murder at the Alberni and Ahousat United Church Schools Stanley Sam, an eyewitness to the beating death of Albert Gray in Nov. 1938 at the Ahousat school (1996) |
2. Alert Bay :
St. Michael’s Anglican school (1878-1975), situated on Cormorant Island offshore from Port McNeill. Presently the building is used by Namgis First Nation. The site is an overgrown field adjacent to the building, and also under the foundations of the present new building, constructed during the 1960s. Skeletons seen “between the walls”.
 |
| Murder at the Kuper Island Catholic School Former Kuper Island student Bill Seward, whose sister Margaret was "thrown from a third-story window by a nun" and died. |
(1890-1975), offshore from Chemainus. The land occupied by Penelakut Band. The former building is destroyed except for a staircase. Two grave sites: one immediately south of the former building, in a field containing a conventional cemetery; another at the west shoreline in a lagoon near the main dock.
Update July 13, 2021: 160 graves found at Kuper Island:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/jul/13/canada-unmarked-graves-british-columbia-residential-school
4. Nanaimo Indian Hospital: Indian Affairs and United Church experimental facility (1942-1970) on Department of National Defense land. Buildings now destroyed. Gravesites are immediately east of former buildings on Fifth Avenue, adjacent to and south of Malaspina College.
4. Nanaimo Indian Hospital: Indian Affairs and United Church experimental facility (1942-1970) on Department of National Defense land. Buildings now destroyed. Gravesites are immediately east of former buildings on Fifth Avenue, adjacent to and south of Malaspina College.
Updates Nanaimo, Sept. 2021
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fundraiser-vancouver-island-1.6176067
5. Mission: St. Mary’s Catholic school (1861-1984), adjacent to and north of Lougheed Highway and Fraser River Heritage Park. Original school buildings are destroyed, but many foundations are visible on the grounds of the Park.
In this area there are two gravesites: a) immediately adjacent to former girls’ dormitory and present cemetery for priests, and a larger mass grave in an artificial earthen mound, north of the cemetery among overgrown foliage and blackberry bushes, and b) east of the old school grounds, on the hilly slopes next to the field leading to the newer school building which is presently used by the Sto:lo First Nation. Hill site is 150 metres west of the building.
6. North Vancouver: Squamish (1898-1959) and Sechelt (1912-1975) Catholic schools, buildings destroyed. Graves of children who died in these schools interred in the Squamish Band Cemetery, North Vancouver.
7. Sardis: Coqualeetza Methodist-United Church school (1889-1940), then experimental hospital run by the federal government (1940-1969). Native burial site next to Sto:lo reserve and Little Mountain school, also possibly adjacent to the former school-hospital building.
8. Cranbrook: St. Eugene Catholic school (1898-1970), recently converted into a tourist “resort” with federal funding, resulting in the covering-over of a mass burial site by a golf course in front of the building. Numerous gravesites are around and under this golf course.
5. Mission: St. Mary’s Catholic school (1861-1984), adjacent to and north of Lougheed Highway and Fraser River Heritage Park. Original school buildings are destroyed, but many foundations are visible on the grounds of the Park.
In this area there are two gravesites: a) immediately adjacent to former girls’ dormitory and present cemetery for priests, and a larger mass grave in an artificial earthen mound, north of the cemetery among overgrown foliage and blackberry bushes, and b) east of the old school grounds, on the hilly slopes next to the field leading to the newer school building which is presently used by the Sto:lo First Nation. Hill site is 150 metres west of the building.
6. North Vancouver: Squamish (1898-1959) and Sechelt (1912-1975) Catholic schools, buildings destroyed. Graves of children who died in these schools interred in the Squamish Band Cemetery, North Vancouver.
7. Sardis: Coqualeetza Methodist-United Church school (1889-1940), then experimental hospital run by the federal government (1940-1969). Native burial site next to Sto:lo reserve and Little Mountain school, also possibly adjacent to the former school-hospital building.
8. Cranbrook: St. Eugene Catholic school (1898-1970), recently converted into a tourist “resort” with federal funding, resulting in the covering-over of a mass burial site by a golf course in front of the building. Numerous gravesites are around and under this golf course.
Update June 30, 2021: 128 Unmarked graves located at St. Eugene School. Survivor describes abuse endured by children.
9. Williams Lake: Catholic school (1890-1981), buildings destroyed but foundations intact, five miles south of city. Gravesites reported north of school grounds and under foundations of the tunnel-like structure.
Update January 2023: More graves found: Babies burned in incinerators after sexual abuse
10. Meares Island (Tofino): Kakawis-Christie Catholic school (1898-1974). Buildings incorporated into Kakawis Healing Centre. Body storage room reported in the basement, adjacent to burial grounds south of the school.
11. Kamloops : Catholic school (1890-1978). Buildings are intact. Mass grave south of the school, adjacent to and amidst orchard. Numerous burials witnessed there.
Update June 2021: 215 remains located in mass grave at Kamloops.
Survivor said Kamloops was a labor camp, with sexual abuse of students by school staff at night. Radio interview KPFA 2021.
12. Lytton: St. George’s Anglican school (1901-1979). Graves of students flogged to death, and others, reported under floorboards and next to the playground.
13. Fraser Lake: Lejac Catholic school
(1910-1976), buildings destroyed. Graves reported under old foundations and between the walls.
Sterilizations, abortions and medical experiments
 |
| United Church Sterilization Centre, Bella Bella BC W.R. Large Memorial Hospital site of sterilizations and medical experiments between at least 1923 and 1969. |
Alberta:
1. Edmonton: United Church school (1919-1960), present site of the Poundmaker Lodge in St. Albert . Graves of children reported south of former school site, under the thick hedge that runs north-south, adjacent to memorial marker.
2. Edmonton: Charles Camsell Hospital (1945-1967), building intact, an experimental hospital run by Indian Affairs and United Church. Mass graves of children from the hospital reported south of the building, near staff garden.
Update Edmonton Hospital, Aug. 7, 2021
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/search-for-unmarked-graves-at-former-edmonton-hospital-site-to-continue-this-month-after-first-survey-leaves-questions-unanswered
3. Saddle Lake: Blue Quills Catholic school (1898-1970), building intact, skeletons and skulls observed in the basement furnace. Mass grave reported adjacent to the school.
3. Saddle Lake: Blue Quills Catholic school (1898-1970), building intact, skeletons and skulls observed in the basement furnace. Mass grave reported adjacent to the school.
Update: Genocide at Blue Quills at Saddle Lake, Jan. 2023
Children murdered by pushing them down stairs and feeding them raw poisonous milk.
4. Hobbema: Ermineskin Catholic school (1916-1973), five intact skeletons observed in school furnace. Graves under former building foundations.
Update March 4, 2022
169 graves located at Grouard Mission site, Kapawe'no:
Manitoba:
1. Brandon: Methodist-United Church school (1895-1972). Building intact. Burials reported west of the school building. 2. Portage La Prairie: Presbyterian-United Church school (1895-1950). Children buried at nearby Hillside Cemetery.
3. Norway House:
Methodist-United Church school (1900-1974). “Very old” gravesite next to the former school building, demolished by United Church in 2004.
Ontario:
1. Thunder Bay: Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital, still in operation. Experimental centre. Women and children reported buried adjacent to hospital grounds.
.
2. Sioux Lookout: Pelican Lake Catholic school (1911-1973). Burials of children in the mound near to the school. 3. Kenora: Cecilia Jeffrey school, Presbyterian-United Church (1900-1966). Large burial mound east of the former school. 4. Fort Albany: St. Anne’s Catholic school (1936-1964). Children killed in electric chair buried next to the school. 5. Spanish: Catholic school (1883-1965). Numerous graves.  |
| St Anne’s Indian Residential School in Fort Albany. In the basement was an electric chair that was used to terrorize children. Many of the survivors are still trying to access their records in order to settle their case. The Pope these records. (2022 update) |
6. Brantford: Mohawk Institute, Anglican church (1850-1969), building intact. Series of graves in the orchard behind the school building, under rows of trees.
7. Sault Ste. Marie: Shingwauk Anglican school (1873-1969), some intact buildings. Several graves of children reported on grounds of the old school.
Update: Document shows children buried at Shingwauk, their age and cause of death. 'The Shingwauk Files,' by Censored News, June 2021. https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-shingwauk-files-search-begins-for.html
Quebec:
1. Montreal: Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, still in operation since opening in 1940. MKULTRA experimental centre. Mass grave of children killed there north of the building, on southern slopes of Mount Royal behind the stone wall.
1. Montreal: Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, still in operation since opening in 1940. MKULTRA experimental centre. Mass grave of children killed there north of the building, on southern slopes of Mount Royal behind the stone wall.
Residential school survivors used in medical experiments filed lawsuits.
 |
| Hidden from History "Forced Abortions and Secret Burials - Port Alberni BC -Catholic cemetery west of Port Alberni, across from the Alberni residential school, where children were buried in secret." |
 |
| Hidden from History: "Forced Abortions and Secret Burials - Port Alberni BC West Coast General Hospital, where forced abortions were performed on native students made pregnant by Alberni residential school staff, and where dead bodies from the school were stored under false death certificates." http://canadiangenocide.nativeweb.org/ |
Update 2021:
751 unmarked graves found at Cowessess First Nation residential school in Saskatchewan.
Update January 2023:
Star Blanket Cree Nation, Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School
An indigenous nation in Canada said it has discovered evidence of possible unmarked graves on the grounds of a former residential school.
Star Blanket Cree Nation said a ground-penetrating radar had revealed the jawbone fragment of a small child and more than 2,000 "areas of interest".
Areas for this most recent search were identified after testimonials from elders and former students of the former Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School.
Sources of list published in 2008 :
- Eyewitness accounts from survivors of these institutions, cataloged in Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust (2nd ed., 2005) by Kevin Annett. Other accounts are from local residents. See www.hiddenfromhistory.org
Documents and other material from the Department of Indian Affairs RG
10 microfilm series on Indian Residential Schools in Koerner Library, University of B.C.
- Survey data and physical evidence obtained from gravesites in Port Alberni, Mission, and other locations.
This is a partial list and does not include all of the gravesites connected to Indian residential schools and hospitals across Canada. In many cases, children who were dying of diseases were sent home to die by school and church officials, and the remains of other children who died at the school were incinerated in the residential school furnaces.
This information is submitted by The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) to the world media, the United Nations, and to the International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC). The IHRTGC will commence its investigations on
April 15, 2008, on Squamish Nation territory.
For more information on the independent inquiry into genocide in Canada being conducted by the IHRTGC, write to: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca
10 April 2008
Squamish Nation Territory (“Vancouver, Canada”)
http://atlanticfreepress.com Powered by Joomla! Generated: 15 April, 2008, 15:34
An indigenous nation in Canada said it has discovered evidence of possible unmarked graves on the grounds of a former residential school.
Star Blanket Cree Nation said a ground-penetrating radar had revealed the jawbone fragment of a small child and more than 2,000 "areas of interest".
Areas for this most recent search were identified after testimonials from elders and former students of the former Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School.
Sources of list published in 2008 :
- Eyewitness accounts from survivors of these institutions, cataloged in Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust (2nd ed., 2005) by Kevin Annett. Other accounts are from local residents. See www.hiddenfromhistory.org
Documents and other material from the Department of Indian Affairs RG
10 microfilm series on Indian Residential Schools in Koerner Library, University of B.C.
- Survey data and physical evidence obtained from gravesites in Port Alberni, Mission, and other locations.
This is a partial list and does not include all of the gravesites connected to Indian residential schools and hospitals across Canada. In many cases, children who were dying of diseases were sent home to die by school and church officials, and the remains of other children who died at the school were incinerated in the residential school furnaces.
This information is submitted by The Friends and Relatives of the Disappeared (FRD) to the world media, the United Nations, and to the International Human Rights Tribunal into Genocide in Canada (IHRTGC). The IHRTGC will commence its investigations on
April 15, 2008, on Squamish Nation territory.
For more information on the independent inquiry into genocide in Canada being conducted by the IHRTGC, write to: genocidetribunal@yahoo.ca
10 April 2008
Squamish Nation Territory (“Vancouver, Canada”)
http://atlanticfreepress.com Powered by Joomla! Generated: 15 April, 2008, 15:34
