More graves likely found at B.C. school site

The lead investigator in the search for unmarked graves at a former residential institution near the Williams Lake First Nation in central British Columbia says their work has uncovered 66 additional “reflections,” indicating children’s graves.

Whitney Spearing told a news conference the results of the second phase of their investigation show crimes were committed against children at the Catholicrun St. Joseph’s Mission, which operated between 1886 and 1981.

In addition to the reflections found in a technical survey, she said interviews with survivors and searches through archival records revealed that babies born as a result of child sexual assault at the mission were disposed of by incineration.

Spearing said their work found “a minimum” of 28 children died at the mission, many of them buried in unmarked graves around the site. She concluded her remarks Wednesday by saying it “must be emphasized” that no geophysical investigation could provide evidence of human remains with certainty.

“Excavation is the only technique that will provide answers as to whether human remains are present within the reflections at St. Joseph’s Mission,” Spearing said.

The nation first announced a year ago that the first phase of its investigation had uncovered 93 “reflections” indicative of human burials.

Combined, both phases identified 159 possible unmarked graves.

Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars said 34 of 782 hectares requiring investigation have so far been subjected to geophysical analysis, and the next steps will potentially involve excavation in areas that have already been scanned.