A ground-penetrating search is underway at Parkland Crossing, the site of the former McKay Residential School in Dauphin.
The KGS Group which specializes in Engineering and Geomatics will conduct the search. It will cover six acres of land that is currently owned and operated by the Dauphin Church of Christ and it's expected to take two days. Processing and analyzing the results will follow and that is expected to take some time.
The McKay Residential School, which was originally built in The Pas, was operated by the Anglican Church between 1914 and 1988. In 1933, The Pas school burned down and it was rebuilt in Dauphin starting in 1954. According to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, it originally operated as an elementary school.
“The Indian Residential School system was created for the purpose of removing AnishinaabeAbinoonjiiwaag from the influence of their own culture and assimilating them into the dominant Canadian culture, ‘to kill the Indian in the child’,” said Ogichidaa Eugene Eastman. “These innocent children were stolen from their families and their Nations under the authority of the Canadian government, and never returned home. They all deserve to be found and honoured that Creator may guide them home and bring peace to their families."
In 1969, the McKay School closed, but the federal government continued to operate the residences (Scrase Hall and Spence Hall) up until 1988.
We will continue to follow this story.
