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       Kapawe’no First Nation said that some preliminary work has either been done or continues, including hearing residential school survivors’ testimonies and engaging community members in discussions.

       SHANNON VANRAES/Reuters

       An Indigenous group in Northern Alberta says it has started the initial steps of uncovering children’s remains at a former residential school site, a process it calls painful but necessary.

       Kapawe’no First Nation, located about 400 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, said Monday that its search was prompted by the announcement made by Tk’emlúps te Secwe？pemc in late May that it had located up to 215 unmarked graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.

       Kapawe’no said in a news release that some preliminary work has either been done or continues, including hearing residential school survivors’ testimonies, engaging community members in discussions, and obtaining historical aerial photos and current drone footage of the sites.

       Chief Sydney Halcrow said the search process will be an incredibly difficult time for his community, but the truth must be discovered, adding it’s important to grieve and give proper traditional burials.

       “It’s never easy when you talk about these issues. It’s always like heartfelt processes as you go forward because you’re dealing with children. And everybody has some type of stories, and to get them out is pretty hard once you open that wound and you start that process over again,” Mr. Halcrow said in an interview.

       Grouard Indian Residential School, also known as St. Bernard Mission School, was operated by the Roman Catholic Church between 1894 and 1957. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, or NCTR, says the school enrolled a large number of Métis students: By 1949, they accounted for half of the students in residence.

       “I think it’s important to remember that there were Métis children who attended these schools, sometimes they were in residence, sometimes they were day students. But there were definitely impacts on Métis communities,” said Kisha Supernant, an anthropology professor at the University of Alberta.

       Kapawe’no First Nation is working with a team from the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology at the University of Alberta, including Dr. Supernant. The team assessed areas around the Grouard site between Aug. 10 and 12.

       Dr. Supernant said a large cemetery in the community that has unmarked graves might also be a target for their search. The site is not on an Indian reserve.

       NCTR listed 10 students who died at the school, but Dr. Supernant said it’s definitely an incomplete record. “We suspect there are many, many more.”

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       Rev. Bernard Akum, pastor of St. Bernard Church, said his church is ready to release any needed information about the school through the Archbishop’s office in Grande Prairie, Alta.

       “If the church is involved in any way, we are ready to apologize. If the government is involved in any way, let the government be ready to apologize. And we seek for healing, reconciliation and the way forward,” he said in an interview.

       Constance Brissenden, partner of Larry Loyie, a survivor of St. Bernard Mission, said she feels the time has come for truth to be told.

       “Larry knew and always said that there were unmarked graves and children who had disappeared from the St. Bernard Mission Catholic school,” Ms. Brissenden said.

       Mr. Loyie, who died in 2016, co-authored several books about residential schools with Ms. Brissenden, including Residential Schools with the Words and Images of Survivors. Ms. Brissenden said he thought he would receive good education at the residential school where he spent six years; however, that became a big disappointment.

       “They spent six weeks of every year picking potatoes. They spent six weeks of every year piling wood for the furnaces. ... The girls had to work in the laundry; the boys worked in the barn,” she said. “So they were always working, really, very little time was spent in the classroom. And that was his biggest sadness.”

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