Manitoba RCMP say they’re monitoring a community-led forensic dig at Minegoziibe Anishinabe, also known as Pine Creek First Nation, and that investigators have been assigned to follow up on any discoveries that might be related to criminal activity.
The community is working on excavating 14 possible locations of unmarked burial sites under the community’s Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Roman Catholic Church. Work is set to begin Monday and is based on ground reflections detected at the site last year by a private contractor.
“We understand that over time burial sites may be lost to the natural elements,” Chief Derek Nepinak said in a medial release Thursday.
“But to bury remains under a building suggests a dark and sinister intent that cannot be unaddressed as we expose the truth of what happened in our homeland.”
Nepinak said there are more than 50 other suspected locations on the grounds around the church and the site of a former residential school.
In a statement Friday afternoon, police said they’ve spent the past year interviewing community members and following up on leads, but have yet to uncover evidence “specific to the reflections detected at the site.” Police also said they have plans ready, depending on what the dig uncovers. The dig is expected to take up to four weeks to complete.