Dogs trained to locate human remains have identified the site of a possible Aboriginal burial near McGill University. A canine team was able to locate on June 9 a place where decomposing bodies were found, reviving the hope of Mohawk mothers who wish to shed light on the history of their ancestors.
Three dogs, independently of each other, spotted a site not far from the Hersey pavilion of the Royal Victoria Hospital, an area yet determined to be without a corpse by archaeologists who inspected it beforehand.
The surprise created by this anomaly led these Aboriginal women, McGill University, the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) and six other government agencies to meet to discuss the relaunch of excavations.
All these institutions had signed an agreement last April for these excavations to go ahead, a way to restore confidence between the indigenous peoples and the governments. McGill University then proudly described the feeling of cooperation that inhabited the various parties involved. “It represents an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration between this Aboriginal group, the SQI and McGill University, which will make it possible to verify the allegations concerning the possible presence of anonymous graves in certain places on the site of the former hospital”, could- we read in a written communication.
In search of truth
Thursday morning, however, the mood was less jovial on the side of the six Mohawk mothers who presented themselves with many questions to the Superior Court of Montreal. They had come there to plead their case, doubting in particular “the good faith of the defendants”, says Phillipe Blouin, the translator representing these Aboriginal women.
“The SQI and McGill University share very little information,” says the anthropologist.
The April agreement ensures easy access to McGill’s archives, but Mohawk mothers and specialists still do not have access to the various documents that could lead their search for the truth.
Since the discoveries of the dog team, the SQI has requested a permit from the Ministry of Culture to carry out the excavations necessary for archaeological research. However, the SQI refuses to share the content of the request with the Mohawk mothers, who thus consider themselves isolated from the process.
That McGill can be held responsible for these Aboriginal deaths and that it manages at the same time the process of restitution of the graves also places this institution in a potential “conflict of interest”, according to Philippe Blouin. “The SQI and McGill […] are responsible for security, responsible for access to the site and they themselves give the contracts to the service providers who carry out the searches. They issue permit applications directly without sharing them with Mohawk mothers,” he laments.
A complicated process
In October 2022, Judge Gregory Moore had suspended the construction of the “New Vic” so that excavations first confirm the presence of graves of abused children, thus responding to the requests of Mohawk mothers.
Last April, the parties in dispute had agreed that the site resume on condition that a collaboration allows to carry out this archaeological research in spite of work.
The remains are said to date from the 1950s, when Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron conducted violent experiments on vulnerable patients. These experiments, ranging from electroshock to the ingestion of psychedelic substances, were conducted with funding from the Canadian government and the CIA.
Philippe Blouin believes that there are three possibilities for the future: “Either broaden the mandate of the panel of experts so that they can give recommendations, in particular on security and the Aboriginal protocol to be followed in the presence of graves. Or go back to trial, which we are trying to avoid. Either go back to mediation as we did for the April agreement. »