Star Blanket First Nation begins search for unmarked graves

The Star Blanket First Nation has started the process of searching for unmarked graves.

The First Nation is deploying ground-penetrating radar to scan the grounds near the former site of the Qu’Appelle Industrial Residential School in Lebret.

The school, which operated between 1884 and 1998, was run primarily by the Roman Catholic Church.

According to the Canadian Press, the sites for the search were selected after testimonials from former students and elders who witnessed or heard stories of what happened at the school.

Star Blanket is the latest First Nation in the province to search for possible unmarked graves where children who attended residential schools were buried.

In June, the Cowessess First Nation reported it had found 751 unmarked graves in a cemetery at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.

In July, the Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs began the search for graves near the former Delmas/Thunderchild Indian Residential School.

The searches followed the discovery in May of the remains of 215 children buried on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops.

— With files from The Canadian Press