Southwestern Manitoba First Nation denied access to unmarked graves

A southwestern Manitoba First Nation's quest to search for unmarked residential school graves at Turtle Crossing Campground in Brandon, about 215 kilometres west of Winnipeg, has been put on hold after access to the land was denied.

Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, located 260 km west of Winnipeg, was planning to start a radar survey of the ground today, but they were told late last week that the property owner denied access. 

The search for potential graves of children who attended the former Brandon Residential School has faced multiple delays, Chief Jennifer Bone said.

A peaceful protest in response to the move was held at the campground on Sept. 30, the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, which is a time to remember children who died while being forced to attend church-run and government-funded residential schools, those who survived, and the families and communities still affected by the lasting trauma.

The former Brandon Residential School opened in 1895 and ran until 1972.

Sioux Valley Dakota Nation's Missing Children Project was established by members of the nation more than 10 years ago to identify burial sites at the former Brandon Residential School. 

The nation, which owns the land where the residential school once stood, has partnered with university researchers to identify all children who died at the school. They've identified 104 potential graves in three cemeteries, but only 78 are accountable through historical records, Chief Bone said previously in a statement.

"This work is important because we are talking about a sensitive matter … we're talking about the burial sites of children," Bone said. 

"We want to rectify, you know, the problems or the history of the residential school and the trauma that it has caused for Indigenous people," Bone said. "We're leading the way and we want to ensure that those things are taken care of and dealt with in the most respectful way."

Sioux Valley has secured funding to do the survey and to put up a fence around the area once boundaries are determined.

However, trying to gain access to the potential site of unmarked graves at Turtle Crossing has been challenging because it is private property.

Mark Kovatch and his wife have owned Turtle Crossing since 2007. He said the campground was built over the graves in the late 1960s or 1970s. 

"It's in the middle of a campground. The city built a campground over top of a grave site ... we have to work within realities of if," Kovatch said. "My wife and I are trying to make a living and we can't just shut the campground down." 

Part of the campsite has already been decommissioned for the project and he's concerned that if another body is found more of the campsite will be shut down.