'We can't just sit around': Fundraiser to pay for residential school searches smashes goal
After the disturbing discovery of the bodies of 215 children on the property of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, First Nation communities are now calling on the government to search the grounds of other residential school sites.
"They have to help us do the research here to determine if we have unmarked graves,” said Chief Councillor Ken Watts of the Tseshaht First Nation.
That prompted a group of three to start a GoFundMe page in order to pay to search locations on Vancouver Island. Their goal was $25,000.
"I just checked moments ago and it was over $32,000,” said Steve Sxwithul’txw, co-founder of the fundraising page.
That interview was at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. By 5 p.m., it had grown to $40,000.
"We can't just sit around, we've done enough of that,” said Sxwithul’txw. “It's been confirmed, there's bodies right across the country at all of these sites, I'm sure, and sitting around and not doing anything is the last thing we should be doing."
The group says it is willing to work with any First Nation community that wants to work with them, or any professionals.
"In total, we've located about 800 unmarked graves,” said Mike Cooper, senior locator at ScanPlus.
In the last five years, the Sooke company - which offers ground-penetrating radar - has worked with three different First Nation communities, locating unmarked and often forgotten graves.
"Due to the passage of time, or by accident, grave markers have been removed and then what we do is we go in with this machine and we can locate unmarked graves,” said Cooper.
The fundraising group acknowledges government funding could be coming at some point, but wants to get started now and will consider searching sites off the island as well.
"(If) we, let's say hypothetically, get a larger amount and we are able to do that, we're going to make sure that this gets done and scan those lands where those other residential schools are,” said Sxwithul’txw.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.