Cuthand: Residential school grave searches a start for First Nations

There was a lot of sickness in these institutions. Children died from diseases such as influenza, mumps, scrofula, tuberculosis.

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Recently the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation announced that it will search for unmarked graves at the site of the former Sturgeon Landing residential school, joining other First Nations that are searching for the remains of their long-dead ancestors.

The school — and I use the term loosely — was located on the north shore of Namew Lake, northeast of Cumberland House near the Manitoba border. Namew is sturgeon in Cree.

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Today Sturgeon Landing is part of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. It has a population of about 100 and is only accessible by road from Manitoba.

Peter Ballantyne is comprised of nine communities with a total population of 12,000; the traditional territory of this huge Woodland Cree First Nation covers about 51,000 square kilometres.

The late Philip Morin, a friend of mine, was raised traditionally in the community of Southend on the shore of Reindeer Lake. He spent his early years with........

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