Overview

• Archaeologists conducted an 18-month ground-penetrating radar survey guided by survivor testimony around the former St. Augustine’s Residential School.
• The 41 newly detected soil anomalies bring the total potential unmarked burial sites to 81, though none have been confirmed by excavation or forensic analysis.
• Chief Lenora Joe said community elders’ accounts already bore witness to the harms and that radar findings simply affirmed what survivors long held true.
• The shíshálh Nation is collaborating with 53 other First Nations whose children attended the school to ensure inclusive decision-making.
• Decisions on funding, privacy protections and culturally appropriate verification processes remain pending as the Nation weighs next steps.