August 15, 2025
RED FM News Desk
The shíshálh First Nation says 41 additional unmarked graves have been located during an ongoing search of the former St. Augustine’s Residential School site on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast.
The findings, made with ground-penetrating radar, follow 18 months of scanning areas identified through conversations with residential school survivors. They bring the total number of suspected graves at the site to 81, after the nation’s initial announcement in 2023 that 40 possible burial sites had been detected.
Unlike some other communities that use terms such as “anomalies” or “areas of interest,” the shíshálh Nation stated the graves were identified by archaeologists.
Children from the shíshálh community and 53 others, some as far away as Saskatchewan, were forced to attend St. Augustine’s. The nation says it has been working with those communities to ensure the search is as thorough and respectful as possible.
In a statement, Chief Lenora Joe said the discoveries are consistent with what survivors have long described. “This doesn’t come as a surprise to us,” she said. “We always had enough proof.”
The investigation continues as the shíshálh Nation seeks to uncover the full extent of what happened at the former residential school.
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