Forensics expert: Identifying remains found at former residential school sites could take 'decades'

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In wake of yet another discovery of unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school, one forensics expert says it could take ‘decades” to identify.

TORONTO -- In the wake of yet another discovery of unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school, one forensics expert says it could take “decades” to identify.On Thursday, the Cowessess First Nation says it found 751 unmarked graves near a former Saskatchewan through the use of ground penetrating radar.

“There's a lot of information that needs to be collected from a lot of different sources to actually be able to make identifications,” Bassendale told CTV News Channel on Thursday. “It can take decades.” The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nations have already begun the work to identify the 215 children whose bodies were found at the Kamloops site, although their attempts to obtain some of the relevant recordsWhile this is a slow and arduous process, time is of the essence as Indigenous elders, residential school survivors and others who may remember key details continue to age.

“It's very invasive in terms of personal information because we need very specific details to actually be able to identify human remains. And, you know, some people aren't comfortable with that. Some people are.” Bassendale says it's critical for Indigenous communities to lead this process. Otherwise, bodies could end up becoming misidentified.

 

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However long it takes, it is necessary. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. First Nations families need to know, Canadians need to know all the names and stories. This matters to all of us.

From 1987 to 1997 the Cowessess First Nation administered the school. There was a cemetery there. Why did they do nothing back then?

There is no evidence of foul play or a crime. Child mortality was high back then, especially TB.

We need to keep in mind that there's the possibility that this could have also been a virus or something biological as well. Remember if this was around the 100 yr ago mark there was the Spanish flu pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands.

you forgot to look for the chiefs and warriors you killed in the fields.

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Hundreds of bodies reported found in unmarked graves at former Saskatchewan residential schoolThe total number of graves near the former Marieval Indian Residential School is expected to be over three times higher than the 215 discovered recently in… Here we go again…. Yes. Tragic. And...? Unmarked graves are everywhere non-parental adults -- especially 'religious' orders, and ESPECIALLY Catholics -- have unsupervised custodial access to children. Worldwide, and throughout history. The pearl clutching around this is performative, not genuine. Take a breath before the accusations fly. Who are in the graves and how did they die? Children who died of disease or who were murdered? It’s a huge difference. Yes the residential schools were wrong but context and facts on these graves matters.
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