Abdul Raouf, research chair, geospatial technologies at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, was among those presenting at the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation's Truth and Reconciliation event on September 20, 2024.Photo by Tina Pelletier

Cuthand: Residential school grave searches a start for First Nations

There was a lot of sickness in these institutions. Children died from diseases such as influenza, mumps, scrofula, tuberculosis.

by · Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Recently the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation announced that it will search for unmarked graves at the site of the former Sturgeon Landing residential school, joining other First Nations that are searching for the remains of their long-dead ancestors.

The school — and I use the term loosely — was located on the north shore of Namew Lake, northeast of Cumberland House near the Manitoba border. Namew is sturgeon in Cree.

Cuthand: Orange Shirt Day a time for remembering and healing in Sask.Monday is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. In Indian country it’s called Orange Shirt Day because it’s the day that we commemorate the damage done by the boarding school system.Doug Cuthand, 28 Sep 2024Cuthand: Indigenous health care in Sask. needs vast improvementCOVID-19 and the opioid crises have hit the First Nations community hard. A report released by the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia stated that the life expectancy of the province’s Indigenous people dropped from 73.3 years in 2015 to 67.2 years in 2021.Doug Cuthand, 21 Sep 2024