After 'burial features' detected on McIntosh residential school grounds, researchers help families get closure

WARNING: This story contains details of experiences at residential schools. 

Members of an Indigenous-led research team that detected 114 "unmarked burial features" on the former property of McIntosh Indian Residential School (IRS) are working to identify people who were buried to help families find closure. 

The results released Thursday provide a grim validation of what survivors and their families have been saying for decades: that many Indigenous children forced to attend residential schools like McIntosh died and never made it home. 

"There's a level of sadness overall, I think, with the team, with the community, with the elders, with chief and council, and the nation — the nation should be sad," said Janalee Jodouin, finance and project consultant for the Wiikwogaming Tiinahtiisiiwin Project Team, which was started by Grassy Narrows First Nation and led the McIntosh search. 

An estimated 6,000 children (with experts estimate many more) died in residential schools in Canada that operated for over 160 years before the last one closed in 1996. Many also suffered physical and sexual abuse at these institutions, which aimed to strip away their culture and language.

McIntosh IRS, founded in 1925 by Roman Catholic missionaries with federal government support, was among the 48 residential schools run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. McIntosh closed in 1969.

The search on the former McIntosh grounds involved the use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) and visual surveys. It was guided by elders and former students, who pointed out areas where they believed researchers would likely find unmarked burials.

The results of the investigation largely confirmed the information gathered from survivors' stories, said Steve Lands, a member of Grassy Narrows First Nation who was forced to attend McIntosh. 

"There was a lot of shock and awe," Lands said. "When once we did show that we had results, many of [the elders and survivors] were moved to tears." 

Jodouin said they hope to help families get closure by trying to determine what happened to loved ones who never made it home from McIntosh. 

"We really thought that we would never have the answers, and now we do, and I think that people can go on to the next journey in life knowing that they have the answers for their siblings, or they have the answers for their parents or whomever."

Records document additional burials, team says

The search found the 114 "unmarked burial features" were consistent with the shape, size and pattern of graves or burials based on specific criteria. Rows of depressions that likely represent caved-in coffins were found during the visual inspection. The investigation also used GPR to look for burial shafts, said technical lead Aaron Mior. It's a non-invasive way of looking beneath the surface of the earth without excavating remains, he said. 

"We're very, very confident of what these locations represent, and that's why we're not using the word anomaly. We're not using the word potential," said Mior. 

He said it is highly likely future searches would find more burial features. 

Records detail the names of at least 165 people buried by school officials at McIntosh, said the Wiikwogaming Tiinahtiisiiwin Project Team. Most of them were children, with some adults from Grassy Narrows First Nation. Two school staff were also buried on site, the team said. 

So far, team members have collected the names, ages and interment dates of most of the people recorded as buried at McIntosh. Sometimes the community the deceased came from was also recorded. 

Mior said the team's goal is to find the community of every person buried there and share the information with them. Children from at least 36 different First Nations communities across Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are recorded as buried at McIntosh, he said.  

Record access, interpretation still a challenge

"We now have the evidence that we know that there are burials right there, and we know where they are. But that's only sort of half the answer. The other part is who's buried where and can we get that answer," said Henrik Akerlund, legal counsel for Grassy Narrows.

The team is trying to use documents to answer those questions, but has encountered some barriers accessing certain records related to children who died at McIntosh. Anything containing personal health information linked to students is often inaccessible due to privacy legislation, said Akerlund.

Akerlund said some institutions, including the Catholic missionary congregation that ran McIntosh, have been helpful in their search for records. 

"It is imperative that all those who played a role, including the Oblates, continue to support the work towards truth and reconciliation," said Ken Thorson, Provincial of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, in an emailed statement to CBC.

"Our congregation has focused these efforts on ensuring all relevant records, including any related to the MacIntosh IRS, are appropriately disclosed to Indigenous survivors and their communities," Thorson said. 

Unclear how many more burials could be found

While there are records of at least 165 people who've been buried on McIntosh property and 114 "unmarked burial features" have been found, it's hard to say how many people in total may have been buried on site. 

The team said it found records and evidence of superimposed burials, which were also described by survivors. Some burial features appear to contain the remains of more than one person. There could also be deaths and associated burials that weren't recorded or witnessed, said the team. 

While the records are useful, the most valuable information on where to find the burials has come from the stories of survivors, said the team. Of the 20 areas survivors identified as highly likely to contain unmarked burials, the team has only been able to search seven so far. 

Ottawa funding needed for more searches, team says  

Later this year, the team would like to search the 13 other areas it suspects could be locations for burial sites, but said it has yet to receive confirmation from the federal government on whether it will continue to fund their efforts. 

Searches require advance planning, as the contracts for GPR are expensive and the work can only be done during a few select months during the summer, said the team. 

With just over two months left in the fiscal year, the federal government said it has not yet decided whether to fund the Wiikwogaming Tiinahtiisiiwin Project's searches next year. 

"Future-year funding requests (2025-26) remain under assessment," Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said in an emailed statement. 

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at 1-866-925-4419.

Mental health counselling and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat