Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars says only excavations would confirm the presence of human remains and much more work is needed to make final decisions.

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A British Columbia First Nation says a preliminary geophysical survey has identified 93 ‘reflections’ that could indicate the number of children buried around the site of a former residential school.

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Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars said Tuesday that only excavations will confirm the presence of human remains, and much more work is needed to make final decisions.

He said 14 of the 470 acres around the former St. Joseph’s Mission boarding school have so far been examined as part of a process to find out what happened to the children who did not return home.

The investigation near Williams Lake comes after the use of ground-penetrating radar led to the discovery last year of what are believed to be 215 unmarked graves at a former Kamloops boarding school.

CAUTION: The following paragraphs contain details that some readers might find distressing.

Sellars said stories told by survivors suggest “many” children who attended the school remained missing.

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“Their bodies were dumped in the river, left at the bottom of lakes, dumped like trash in incinerators,” he said. “It is for these children and these families that we mourn the most.”

Sellars said survivors of Williams Lake First Nation and nearly a dozen neighboring First Nations will receive help to deal with what has been uncovered, which will be traumatic for many.

Whitney Spearing, who led the project, said the 93 reflections were categorized as having a high or low probability of being human remains based on their location, surroundings and depth.

“It is important to note that there is still a lot of work to be done in the Phase 1 area of ​​the investigation, including additional grids (ground penetrating radar) and magnetometry, detailed analysis of related records to internment and burial at the historic cemetery, and an investigation into the implications of potential cremation of human remains at St. Joseph’s Mission.

St. Joseph’s Mission boarding school was opened by the Roman Catholic Church in 1891 and operated until 1981.

The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help residential school survivors and their loved ones suffering from trauma invoked by the memory of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.

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