Nadleh Whut’en finds evidence of potential unmarked graves at site of Lejac Residential School

After nearly two years of geophysical surveys, the Nadleh Whut’en have confirmed newly identified potential unmarked graves at Tseyaz Bunk’ut, which holds the former site of the Lejac Indian Residential School.

According to the First Nation, a preliminary report on a ground-penetrating radar and magnetometry survey has identified several geophysical signatures consistent with burials.

The report was commissioned by the Guiding Team of the Nez Keh Hubuk’uznootah project, which means “Let’s Look for our Children” in Dakelh.

“This is the work we need to do as a community to ensure that the truth can come to light. The work is hard and it takes a long time and we are bringing information forward as we receive it because survivors have a right to know,” said Nadleh Whut’en Chief Beverly Ketlo.

“For non-Indigenous Canadians, we ask you to respect this process as we come to know the truth. Remember – we have always known that there were children buried at Lejac because many of their graves are marked in a cemetery. I want you to ask yourself if your elementary school had a cemetery.”

The Lejac Indian Residential School operated between 1922 and 1976, with at least 7,850 Indigenous children from more than 70 nations from across BC attending.

“The abuses endured at Lejac and other Indian Residential Schools are not just a thing of the past,” Ketlo said.

“The horrors experienced at Lejac are still very real for the survivors who lived through this genocide. Hundreds of people have died as adults due to the trauma they experienced there. Lejac relentlessly taught the children that they were inferior. They were forcibly taken from their families, lands, and cultures, leading them to believe that everything about their identity was wrong in this world. This loss of belonging and safety during childhood has profound and lasting impacts on our community’s health.”

A Guiding team of survivors and intergenerational survivors of the Lejac Indian Residential School is determining how to manage the former site, including directing the ongoing geophysical survey conducted on-site.