(Edmonton) The office of Canada’s interlocutor for anonymous graves near residential schools is to hold its first national gathering on Wednesday in Edmonton.
Posted at 6:08 a.m.
Kimberly Murray was appointed earlier this year to work with Indigenous communities to help them search for unmarked graves.
His office held two days of meetings focused on efforts to find missing children who died while being forced to attend residential schools.
The sessions were to include information on archives, research technology and the protection of burial sites.
Residential school survivors and church representatives were invited as well as representatives of the federal government.
Numerous investigations are underway at former boarding schools across Canada, following the discovery last year of what are believed to be 215 unmarked graves at a former school site in Kamloops, British Columbia.
An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools in Canada.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has documented stories from survivors and families detailing mistreatment in schools, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse. There have been at least 4,100 deaths in these institutions, she said.