RCMP northeast of Edmonton are looking for the public’s help after a fire destroyed a building being used by a team working to uncover more information about residential school graves.
St. Paul RCMP said the overnight fire happened two months ago at the Sacred Heart Cemetery, in proximity to the historical location of the Sacred Heart Residential School (later renamed Blue Quills.)
The ATCO trailer belonged to the Acimowin Opaspiw Society (AOS) and RCMP said it was being used as part of their residential school investigative work at the site about 150 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
The AOS, which was formed by the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in 2021, has been investigating missing children and using ground-penetrating radar to find unmarked burials connected to the Blue Quills Indian Residential School on the First Nation.
The school was open between 1890 and 1970. It was started by Roman Catholic missionaries in Lac la Biche but later moved to the Saddle Lake Cree Nation. It was relocated again in 1931 to St. Paul.
RCMP said the trailer fire started on May 11, sometime after 1:30 a.m.
Police said when it happened, officers promptly arrived at the scene, interviewed several people and conducted both neighbourhood and video surveillance canvassing to identify suspects and/or suspect vehicle.
Fire investigators and St. Paul RCMP forensics identification services also gathered evidence and examined the scene.
Despite those efforts, RCMP said the information gathered is not sufficient evidence to allow for arrests or charges.
Police are looking for help from the community to identify anyone who may have seen or heard something related to the fire at the Sacred Heart Cemetery.
“The RCMP recognizes the impact that this incident has caused to the community and the historical trauma of residential schools,” a news release issued Monday said.
“We firmly believe this investigation can be solved and that individuals in the community possess vital information that has not yet been shared with police.”
In 2023, the AOS revealed a report that said the majority of the students at the school died from tuberculosis contracted by drinking unpasteurized raw cow’s milk from livestock kept on site.
School staff and administrators had their own pasteurized dairy products, the report found, and they were healthy.
The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help residential school survivors and their relatives suffering trauma invoked by the recall of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.
The Hope for Wellness Help Line provides immediate, toll-free telephone and online-chat based emotional support and crisis intervention to all Indigenous Peoples in Canada. This service is available 24/7 in English and French, and upon request in Cree, Ojibway, and Inuktitut.