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Share this Story: Hundreds of bodies reported found in unmarked graves at former Saskatchewan residential school.

Hundreds of bodies reported found in unmarked graves at former Saskatchewan residential school The total number of graves near the former Marieval Indian Residential School is expected to be over three times higher than the 215 discovered recently in Kamloops Photo by Societe historique de Saint-Boniface Reference No. SHSB 1458.

Try refreshing your browser, or Hundreds of bodies reported found in unmarked graves at former Saskatchewan residential school Back to video “The number of unmarked graves will be the most significantly substantial to date in Canada,” says an advisory published Wednesday evening by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, which represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan.

The remains are in unmarked graves in a communal gravesite first used in 1885 but eventually taken over by the Marieval Indian Residential School, founded and operated by the Roman Catholic Church beginning in 1899 on what was then the Marieval Reserve.

Article content Administration of the school was handed over to the federal government in 1969 and then the Cowessess First Nation in 1987 before being closed in 1997.

Everything but the church, rectory and cemetery was demolished shortly after, according to National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation records.

The First Nation teamed up with an underground radar detection team from Saskatchewan Polytechnic to begin the search just over three weeks ago. »