Search for unmarked graves continues at Mohawk Institute residential school site

CBC

3 days ago

The search for unmarked graves at the former Mohawk Institute residential school in Brantford, Ont., continues this summer despite funding cuts to the non-profit organization leading the search.
Dubbed the Mush Hole for its malnourishing food, the Mohawk Institute was run by the Anglican Church and federal government from 1828 to 1970, taking children mainly from nearby Six Nations of the Grand River. The Survivors' Secretariat, a non-profit investigating the school, has documented 101 deaths there.
The process of searching the property spanning a 140-plus year legacy is an arduous one.
Eric Patterson, ground search co-ordinator and analyst for the secretariat said returning summer students from previous seasons have eased some of the burden.
"They already knew how to set up grids. They already knew all these ideas so that they could already help out with the training process with incoming summer students this year," he said.
So far, the secretariat has collected data on 567 grids covering about 2.7 per cent of the 278 hectare property.
Their search has been primarily on lands held by Six Nations of the Grand River nearest to the current Institute building and the chapel. These sites have been prioritized based on the memories of survivors, history of the lands contained in records, documents, maps and aerial photography.
Ground penetrating radar uses radio waves to detect disturbances below the ground's surface and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) uses a laser to measure distances and create detailed 3D representations of objects and surfaces.
The secretariat anticipates the search of the property will take up to 10 years to complete. Laura Arndt, lead at the Survivors' Secretariat, said they have decided to hold back preliminary findings before the data is analyzed because of increasing residential school denialism.
Search funding
The search of the school grounds started in the fall of 2021. Between 2021-22 and 2023-24, the secretariat received about $10.3 million from the $320-million federal Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund.
Arndt said last year the federal government told them they had spent over $1.3 million in areas that were not allowed under funding guidelines and that they were operating with a surplus of $4.1 million.
"We actually had no surplus. The reason we had $2 million in our bank account was because Canada released our last funding payment on Dec. 27, 2024, 90 days before the end of the fiscal year," she said.
That money, Arndt said, was earmarked for data sovereignty work and ground searches, work that could not be completed during the winter.
Arndt said the secretariat finally met with Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) to discuss these irregularities last week. She said CIRNAC determined the secretariat had not made any errors in their audit or operations.
In an emailed statement to CBC Indigenous, CIRNAC said its meetings with the Survivors' Secretariat are private.
"While slightly less than the amount determined in the original assessment, the Survivors' Secretariat's unspent funds as of March 31, 2024, amounted to $3,144,798, as noted in their audited financial statements for 2023-24," the statement read.
"We remain steadfast in our commitment to address the horrific legacy of residential schools and to working in partnership with survivors, families, and communities across the country on the path toward truth, healing, and reconciliation."
Arndt said funding from Ontario allowed them "to keep our lights on and the doors open." In early June, the secretariat received funding from Six Nations Health to support the search and summer employment opportunities for students.
"I think for us, the biggest barrier has been Canada itself," she said.
Accessing historical records is also an issue. Arndt said the secretariat has gone through 37,400 records and documents so far. This archival research helps inform ground search priorities. She said there are 150 archives that they are aware of but have received access to 50.
The federal government ended funding last year to the National Advisory Committee on Residential Schools Missing Children and Unmarked Burials. Also last year, the chairperson and eight members of the national Residential School Documents Advisory Committee resigned, saying the federal government didn't provide sufficient funding to fulfil their mandate.