MONTREAL: An Indigenous community in Canada has identified nearly 100 “potential” graves at a residential school site, months after the discovery of hundreds of children’s remains at former boarding schools rocked the country.

The Williams Lake First Nation (WLFN) community said on Tuesday that a geophysical survey revealed “93 reflections” with characteristics “indicative of potential human burials” at the former St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia.

Investigators “surveyed approximately 14 hectares of the broader 480-hectare site”, which is about 300 kilometres (186 miles) north of Kamloops — where the remains of 215 children were found in May.

Since May, more than 1,000 anonymous graves have been found near former “Indian residential schools” run by religious groups, shedding light on a dark chapter in Canadian history and its policy of forced assimilation of First Nations people.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2022