Pine Creek First Nation is set to break ground this week in a month-long search of an area where it is believed there may be graves of children forced to attend the Pine Creek Residential School.
The school was run by the Roman Catholic Church and was in operation from 1890 to 1969. The large section of land it was on also had a church. Beneath that church is where 14 anomolies were detected last year.
Spiritual advisers will lead a pipe ceremony while a sacred fire is lit, which will burn for the entirety of the excavation.
Chief Derek Nepinak says he believes his community is one of the first in Canada to begin excavating after detecting potential unmarked graves at former residential school sites.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has records of 21 deaths of children at the school. Survivors have also spoken about the abuses suffered there.
