First Nation says it has evidence dozens of children died attending residential school

The Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation has spent years digging in provincial archives, looking for death records of children from the time a residential school operated on the nation.

Now, it says it has evidence dozens of children died while attending the St. Francis Xavier Residential School that was operated on the First Nation in the Grande Prairie region.

“We were able to confirm the 82 school-aged children, with death records aged between seven and 16,” Sturgeon Lake Chief Sheldon Sunshine said.

“We found 202 children between the ages of one and 18 had perished.”

Those deaths cover a period between 1907 and 1961, while the residential school was open.

Nation members believe some of those children outside of the school ages may have also attended St. Francis Xavier, based off records and stories from elders.

“We can’t verify yet until we do the more detailed research on which of those children entered prior to age seven and which stayed later, so the number, 82, could be double that,” research coordinator Gloria Larocque said.

As Sturgeon Lake continues to search for its children, it’s calling on the government to help.

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The chief and council want Ottawa and the Catholic Diocese to share more records on any child who attended the school, if they died and what happened next.

“We’re still going to fight for our kids,” said councillor Rosalyn Goodswimmer.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) said it reached out to the nation to guide them in the best process to get the information they’re looking for.

“The records referenced are on LAC’s website in redacted form, as they are part of a previously released Access to Information package where personal information remains protected,” the department said in a statement.

“For requests of this type, when a researcher has specific rights and wishes to access records with personal information, they may make a request under Section 8(2)(k) of the Privacy Act for land claims, grievances and disputes where personal information would be released to them for this specific purpose.”

Meanwhile, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada said it is actively working with Sturgeon Lake to review the progress and discuss their needs going forward.

“Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada provided Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation with $2,174,150 in funding for 2024-25 and 2025-26 to further their initiative,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Global News.

“The Government of Canada acknowledges the important work being led by Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, Survivors, and research partners to help identify and honour children who never returned home from residential schools.”

Sturgeon Lake says it will also discuss how it will handle possible unmarked burial sites.

A team from the University of Alberta conducted ground searches on the nation, similar to what other First Nations have done at different residential school sites in Alberta.

The team says it found 62 potential unmarked graves, but warns who — or if anyone — is buried there is not confirmed.

It’s part of different research approaches chief Sunshine hopes will lead to one goal.

“Determine the number of children who perished in St. Francis Xavier Residential School,” Sunshine said.