SADDLE LAKE – Further investigations of unmarked graves are necessary across Canada, according to the Acimowin Opaspiw Society (AOS), but it says the groups doing these investigations hit a funding roadblock.
In 2021, the Government of Canada launched the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund to support Indian Residential School (IRS) investigations across the country.
The AOS, a Saddle Lake-based non-profit organization, is among the groups that received funding. The group has been investigating unmarked burial sites at the former Sacred Heart Indian Residential School (IRS) in Saddle Lake, which was later renamed to Blue Quills Indian Residential School.
RELATED: Investigation work moves ahead at former Blue Quills Sacred Heart site
AOS Executive Director Leah Redcrow said the federal government committed a total of $416 million to the support fund, and $246.7 million has been provided to groups so far. “Therefore, there is still a balance of [$170 million] that they haven’t distributed,” believes Redcrow.
Since 2021, 161 funding agreements have been made, which includes the AOS, according to the federal government. Most of the funding agreements expired in March 2025.
There are no projects with a timeline beyond 2025, according to the Government of Canada website.
Redcrow said she reached out and submitted a proposal to the federal government for continued funding but received neither denial nor approval.
The support fund is administered through the Childhood Claims Branch of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, mandated under the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement’s (IRSSA) “Schedule J” Commemoration Policy Directive, as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action 74 to 76, according to information from the Government of Canada.
“Nobody received funding past March 31, which violates [the] IRSSA, the TRC Calls to Action, and applicable funding agreements, as no one was provided six months advanced notice,” she said.
Redcrow is calling on the Government of Canada to resume funding, noting there is much more to be done as new evidence of unmarked graves arise.
She said that since 2022, when the AOS began its multi-year investigation, evidence collected so far indicates at least 325 children had recorded burials while they were attending Sacred Heart.
She added a total of 373 anomalies have been detected by the AOS during its 2023 and 2024 fieldwork seasons, excluding the two communal burial pits located at the site.
Anomalies are subsurface disturbances detected by ground penetrating radar (GPR) that could indicate excavated areas like grave shafts.
2024 Investigation Report
Last year, during the AOS’ 2024 fieldwork investigation, investigators also found potentially additional human bone fragments and artifacts between May 2024 and October 2024.
According to the AOS’ latest fieldwork investigation report, released in April 2025, those involved say the findings provide direct evidence of unmarked burials at the site, in addition to over 100 accidental excavations of child-sized human remains over the course of 50 years at the Sacred Heart Cemetery.
The bone fragments, discovered in May 2024, are located within an area near the hillside cemetery, adjacent to the former IRS site, labelled as "tree cemetery" by the AOS in its report.
These fragments were found in back dirt (excavation byproduct) from rodent burrows and on scraped ground surfaces, indicating they had been displaced from shallow subsurface locations.
The AOS also discovered, in similar circumstances, human cranial and tooth fragments in October 2023, which they identified may represent several non-adult humans.
The AOS believes these repeated findings suggest human remains from unmarked graves are being brought to the surface by ongoing rodent activity.
Along with the human bone fragments discovered were also square cut nails, a wire drawn nail, textile scraps, a stone flake, and fragments of rotted milled wood.
Dr. Scott Hamilton, anthropology professor with the Lakehead University, who joined the AOS’ research team in 2023, speculates in the report that the nails are consistent with those used in coffin construction, crosses, or fences from the late 1800s and early 1900s, coinciding with the IRS’ operational period from 1898 to 1931.
Methods of investigation
Throughout the investigation, GPR covered a total of about 60 survey grids, which is 10 metres by 10 metres per grid.
Across the surveyed area, specifically within the “tree cemetery” area, investigators identified 21 new “anomalies” that met the criteria for potential unmarked graves.
None of these anomalies showed the distinct reflection patterns typically associated with intact caskets, according to investigators.
But the finding is consistent with earlier observations and reports, such as eyewitness accounts in the area that described encountering skeletal remains wrapped in cloth instead of being placed inside caskets, or that any caskets used may have completely deteriorated over time.
According to the AOS, shallower and potentially uncoffined burials may also suggest how rodent activity can easily disturb and displace human remains.
“Given the prospect of uncoffined burials in shallow grave shafts, it is probable that burrowing rodents regularly tunnelled into the loose fill of the grave shafts to build their dens,” reads the report. “This has likely disturbed and redistributed bone fragments, smaller skeletal elements, clothing fasteners, grave inclusions and ‘grave furniture’ (i.e. nails) throughout the thin topsoil zone.”
The 2024 fieldwork investigations also expanded its ground search approach from previous years, which involved the use of multiple near-surface geophysical methods and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle UAV mapping.
Following vegetation clearing during the 2023 fieldwork season, investigators were also able to survey previously inaccessible areas closer to the former school’s buildings and churchyard cemetery, but some challenges remain.
Challenges
While GPR surveys interpreted six anomalies in the churchyard cemetery area, the rough ground conditions, metal debris, and more, posed challenges to investigators.
Other methods, like thermal imaging, revealed details not visible on the surface that could be helpful for future investigations.
These details include the possible existence of old pathways like a footpath “running north to the estimated front of the church,” or thermal imaging illustrating what appears to be an overgrown cart track.
"While not directly related to the search for unmarked graves, such features are important in reconstructing the use of space within the churchyard area,” reads the report.
Anomalies were also identified in the area of the former Presbytery buildings
But according to the report, interpretation of these anomalies is complex due to ground disturbances such as the presence of building foundations, previous site modifications, and potentially other structures that may have existed in the area.
