Piikani begins search for unmarked graves

By Tim Kalinowski on August 21, 2021.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com

The Piikani First Nation will begin the difficult and emotional task of searching the grounds of four former local residential schools for unmarked graves.
The band announced on Thursday it will begin working on Aug. 27 with SNC Lavelin, which has offered its expertise and equipment, to begin ground-penetrating radar sweeps of suspected sites where unmarked graves may be located.
“Because we are just at the start of the project, we are having a lot more questions than we are answers,” says Carolynn Small Legs, special projects co-ordinator for the Piikani First Nation. “We hope as we go through the process, and after this first investigation, we will have more answers not only for the members, but also for media.”
Small Legs says there is no current timeline for how long the investigation might take, but it is important to take as much time as necessary to do it in a respectful, thoughtful and thorough way.
“I know our people are ready to find the truth,” she says, “and to see where we will go with the project after our first scanning. This is not going to be an easy task because we don’t know what we are going to find. And so we do want to take our time doing it, and we do want to do it right.”
The investigation will start at sites identified as having possible unmarked graves contained in the oral knowledge of Elders and residential school survivors within Piikani, confirms Small Legs.
“We are starting to gather these stories from our Elders, and from our former residential school survivors,” she says. “And what we are finding out is that there may be additional gravesites that have to be identified. So we are working with our community members to determine those additional sites, should there be any.”
The tribe has set up a working group which will manage every aspect of the investigation project, confirms Small Legs, and is preparing for the grief any potential discoveries might cause its people.
“We know there is going to be a lot of emotion and pain around this issue,” she says. “We have set up a professional working group that’s going to be managing the various parts of this investigation. And one part of this working group is to address the hurts and the pains, the mental health piece, and wellness, of it. So we have a direct connection with our Piikani prevention and counselling services.”

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