Research begins into unmarked graves at site of St. Anne's residential schools

Work will soon be underway to investigate unmarked burial sites associated with the former St. Anne's Residential School in Fort Albany, Ontario.

Six First Nations are working together on a three-year project, with Fort Albany leading the process. 

The Ontario government has committed $900,000 over three years, while the federal government has added $1.3 million for the first year.

It's a project that has been a long time coming for the community on the James Bay coast, where many live with painful memories of the school, which operated from 1902 to 1976.

The history of St. Anne's is marked with tales of horrific abuse – physical and psychological – at the hands of the priests and nuns who ran the school. 

Fort Albany Chief Robert Nakogee, said the first step in the process will be ascertaining – through research and stories from St. Anne's survivors – where the graves may be.

"What we're trying to do is have closure, because that question is always in the air – where are they?" Chief Nakogee said. That's what we want to bring us closer. And of course, healing is important. "

Other First Nations will be contributing to the search, which will eventually involve the use of ground-penetrating radar – a process Nakogee said he hopes will bring the communities together.

"We would be reaching out to any community member, every community that has been involved with the residential school here," he said. "Some of the stories I have heard have touched me, or because they've answered questions for myself."

Nakogee's mother and grandmother attended the school, and he was raised by an uncle who was also a student there.

"It's a lot of work ahead," he said. "But the goal is to find answers." 

St. Anne's records in Rome?

In November, CBC reported that researchers in Ottawa had uncovered new evidence to suggest some archival records relating to residential schools in Canada are now only available in Rome.

Those records might help communities track down burial records, Brenda Macdougall, a professor and research chair in Métis family and community traditions at the University of Ottawa, told CBC News in an email.

"You need the sacramental registers and specifically, the sepulchre or burial records," Macdougall said, adding that there likely was once a map created of the area. "Cemeteries tend to have maps and this would have been consecrated ground at one time."

Although Macdougall said she can't be certain the Rome records would help find the unmarked graves that Nakogee seeks in F.t Albany, there should at least be a record of who died in the archive's burial records.

"That should be cross-listed with the enrolment records," Macdougall said. "You have to look at the totality of the records held by the church, you can't just look at one."

"The church didn't produce records like that—they produced records for the mission (which included the school) completely." 

The records were authored and archived by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a Catholic order which operated 48 residential schools in Canada, including St. Anne's. 

The Grey Nuns of the Cross, a congregation of Catholic women,  also was involved in the operation of the school at one time.