Analyst: Outrage over boarding schools in Canada is global 10:20
(CNN) --
Authorities discovered 169 possible unmarked graves on the grounds of a former Catholic residential school in Canada, an indigenous tribe in Alberta said Tuesday.
The Kapawe'no First Nation, which is located more than 200 miles northwest of Edmonton, said the discovery was made at the former San Bernardo Mission School on the Grouard Mission site.
Possible graves were identified using ground penetrating radar (GPR) and drone imagery, authorities said.
This residential school was one of several across Canada that thousands of mostly indigenous children were forced to attend after being separated from their families between the 19th century and the 1990s. At least 150,000 indigenous children across the country were affected by this practice, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The tragic story behind indigenous residential schools in Canada
"We remember the devastation felt by our people when our children were forcibly removed from their families, from their communities to be placed in residential Indian schools," Kapawe'no Chief Sydney Halcrow said during a press conference on Tuesday.
"We can start our path of healing our identities that fought so hard to take away from us."
Halcrow said information from survivors, community members and file records indicate multiple children died while at the school.
The Catholic Church opened the Saint Bernard Mission School in 1894 and closed it in 1961, according to Canada's National Center for Truth and Reconciliation.
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The investigation to find the unmarked graves of the children who allegedly died at the school began in October 2021 thanks to a joint effort by the Kapawe'no First Nation and the University of Alberta's Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archeology (IPIA). .
"One hundred and sixty-nine potential graves were identified based on analysis of anomalies within the GPR data that had features associated with unmarked graves," said IPIA director Kisha Supernant.
Over the course of six days, 115 potential graves were found within the existing community cemetery in which no grave markings were found, according to Supernant.
In addition, 54 possible graves were located around the school property, outside of the cemetery area.
The investigation is expected to continue in two additional phases, Supernant said.
An Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day for former students and others affected at 1-866-925-4419.
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Hundreds of unmarked graves identified in other Canadian schools
The painful discovery of the possible unmarked graves comes after the remains of hundreds of indigenous children were found in various locations last year, amid an acknowledgment of how Canada had treated First Nations communities.
Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission wrote in a 2015 report on the repercussions of the boarding school system that an estimated 4,000 children died in boarding schools over several decades.
It details decades of physical, sexual and emotional abuse suffered by children in government and church institutions.
"These residential schools were created for the purpose of separating indigenous children from their families, to minimize and weaken family ties and cultural ties, and to indoctrinate children into a new culture, the culture of legally Euro-Christian Canadian society. dominant," the report said.
In May 2021, the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc community confirmed that the remains of 215 children who had attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School had been found.
A month later, the Cowess First Nation in Saskatchewan announced the discovery of at least 750 unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.
In British Columbia, 182 human remains were found in unmarked graves in July 2021 at the site of the former St. Eugene's Mission School near the town of Cranbrook, said the Lower Kootenay Band, a member group of the Ktunaxa Nation.
Last year, the Canadian Bishops' Conference apologized for its role in the residential school system, expressing "deep remorse."
"We recognize the serious abuses committed by some members of our Catholic community - physical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, cultural and sexual," the organization said in a statement.
"We also painfully acknowledge the historical and ongoing trauma and legacy of suffering and challenges faced by indigenous peoples that continue to this day."
CNN's Paula Newton, Nicole Chavez and Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.
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