21.22°C Vancouver

Aug 10, 2021 8:49 PM -

North Vancouver First Nations to look for children who never made it home

Share On

Three First Nations have launched an initiative to find answers about the children who once attended St. Paul's Indian Residential School in North Vancouver but never made it home.

The Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam nations have announced an Indigenous-led plan to find answers and confirm the oral histories told by St. Paul's survivors about children who disappeared.

Squamish Nation representative Khelsilem says they know current archives document a number of children died at the school, but the records are "piecemeal."

More than 2,000 Indigenous children representing six nations attended the school between 1899 and 1959, and many were then relocated to the Kamloops Indian Residential School, where the remains of more than 200 children were found in May.

Khelsilem says they have done some "very preliminary" work, but there have been significant developments at the site since the closure and it is currently the site of a Catholic high school.

A preliminary work plan proposes interviewing survivors who attended the school, gathering all records related to its history with the Catholic Church and doing a remote sensing search for bodies.

Khelsilem says there have been "bureaucratic" challenges in accessing complete records so far.

"It’s important to note that our people’s experiences with St. Paul’s Indian Residential School are well known and healing is needed to move forward. This work is being done to respect and address both known and unknown knowledge, and is a critical part of reconciliation," Khelsilem says.

The federal government announced today that it is adding $321 million to programs to help Indigenous communities search burial sites around former residential schools, prompted by the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at several former schools.

Latest news

canadian-victoria-mboko-is-the-national-bank-open-champion
CanadaAug 08, 2025

Canadian Victoria Mboko is the National Bank Open champion

Canadian lawn tennis player Victoria Mboko has won the National Bank Open title. The 18-year-old Mboko defeated four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final. After losing the first set, Victoria Mboko made a strong comeback in the match, winning the second and third sets in an almost one-sided fashion and taking the match and the title. The spectators also became extremely excited during the second and third set comebacks of the Canadian player, who was playing in front of the home crowd, and the umpire had to repeatedly ask the spectators to be quiet and not make noise b
surrey-shots-fired-for-the-second-time-on-kaps-cafe
BCAug 07, 2025

Surrey: Shots fired for the second time on Kap's Cafe

Shots were fired again this morning at Kap’s Cafe, the target of a shooting incident in Surrey on July 10. No one was injured during the incident, but the windows on one side of the business were fully damaged and glass could be seen scattered inside the business and on the sidewalk. The incident occurred at around 4:40 a.m.The cafe reopened about 10 days after the July 10 incident, but now, after another shooting, the cafe, located at 85 Avenue and 120 Street, has been closed again. In addition to the side of the cafe, a hole could also be seen in the entrance area of the cafe due to gunfir
russian-president-to-visit-india-modi-putin-meeting-may-happen-by-year-end
WorldAug 07, 2025

Russian President to visit India, Modi-Putin meeting may happen by year-end

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India in the last week of this year. This information was given by India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who was in Moscow. Doval said that we have a special and old relationship with Russia, he described the relations between Russia and India as high-level and said that we are very excited about President Putin's visit to India. The announcement of this visit has come amid increasing tensions between New Delhi and Washington over India's trade relations with Russia. At the same time, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an address, al
CanadaAug 07, 2025

Canada Border Services Agency arrests Punjabi truck driver with large cocaine haul

The Canada Border Services Agency has reported the arrest of a Punjabi truck driver with a large cocaine haul at Blue Water Bridge, Ontario. The agency said that on July 23, a commercial truck entering from the United States was stopped for inspection at the Blue Water Bridge Port of Entry, during which officers searched the trailer and seized 197 kilograms of suspected cocaine, concealed in seven bags in the form of bricks. According to the Border Services Agency, this had an estimated street value of $24.6 million. The CBSA arrested 29-year-old truck driver Onkar Kalsi of Caledon, Ontario
b-c-s-2024-deficit-comes-in-under-forecast-at-7-3b
BCAug 07, 2025

B.C.'s 2024 deficit comes in under forecast at $7.3B

British Columbia's final deficit for the fiscal year has come in at $7.3 billion, $564 million lower than the original projected number in Budget 2024. The final deficit is also about $1.8 billion lower than the most recent third-quarter forecast. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey says B.C. was able to report a lower-than-projected deficit largely due to revenue from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. Total revenue was about $2.5 billion higher than expected in the budget. B.C.'s GDP grew by 1.2 per cent, lower than the Canadian average of 1.6 per cent. The taxpayer-supported debt-to-

Related News