Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan puts names to 300 of 751 unmarked graves

In June, the Cowessess First Nation announced it had used ground-penetrating radar to discover as many as 751 graves near the school site and have since identified about 300 unmarked graves.

More than 60 years ago, she would have been inside the now-demolished school, looking out a window and dreaming of freedom.

Lavallee was forced to attend the school when she was six years old, and stayed there from 1957 to 1967.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark Canada's first Truth and Reconciliation Day, she said she had to come to terms with returning to the spot where the school once stood.

"Land is sacred to Indigenous Peoples. I couldn't say this land was sacred because I suffered here," Lavallee said. "Horrible things happened to me here."