Potential unmarked graves identified at former residential school in central B.C.

The chief of a First Nation in central British Columbia says potential unmarked graves have been identified at the site of the former Lejac Indian Residential School after nearly two years of geophysical survey work.

Nadleh Whut’en Chief Beverly Ketlo says the community has always known children were buried at the institution because many of their graves are marked in a cemetery.

A statement from the First Nation says the institution had a cemetery on its grounds since it was founded in 1922, but findings so far suggest a number of unmarked graves have not been accounted for.

It says a preliminary report from a ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry survey identified several geophysical signals consistent with burials.

The statement announcing the report and its findings on Saturday did not provide an estimate of the number of potential unmarked grave sites.

Ketlo says the nation is sharing information as officials receive it because “survivors have a right to know.”

She discussed the report and its findings at a news conference in Fraser Lake, B.C., located about 160 kilometres west of Prince George.

The Lejac Indian Residential School operated from 1922 to 1976, run by the Roman Catholic church under a contract with the Canadian government, with up to 7,850 Indigenous children, including day school students, attending.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2024.

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press