The New Reality: October 22

Across the country, First Nations have been on a mission to uncover the true death toll of Canada’s residential schools. Teams of researchers, local leaders, and survivors have assembled to search for the remains of children buried on former school grounds. This week, The New Reality focuses on the work that comes next —an exclusive, inside story of how researchers are using science, archives, and discussions with knowledge keepers to name the children who lost their lives at these institutions. We travel to southern Manitoba, to highlight the work being done by the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation to put names to the 104 children buried in unmarked graves near the Brandon Residential School—and to go inside the archives at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, where work is underway on a national list of names of students who died in residential schools. As Krista Hessey found out, the task is as important as it is daunting: combing through millions of files to collect clues about the identities and fates of these children.