Anomalies found in search for unmarked graves at Blue Quills residential school

During a search of an unmarked grave at the site of a former boarding school northeast of Edmonton, 19 anomalies were discovered using ground penetrating radar.

The first findings of the search at Blue Quills Boarding School, announced Wednesday, describe the anomaly as a reflection of concern.

The report says the findings provide a starting point, but finding answers about what happened to the children who didn’t come home from school would go a long way.

Bleu Quills Boarding School was started by Roman Catholic missionaries in Lac Lavish but later moved to Saddle Lake Clean Nation and again to St. Paul in 1931.

In 1970, parents of children at Blue Quills School occupied the school and demanded that its operations be turned over to First Nations.

A report published earlier this year from an unrelated group found that unpasteurized milk was responsible for the deaths of Indigenous children at the same facility.

This report by the Canadian Press was first published on April 19, 2023.