'Abuse, neglect, malnutrition': Munsee-Delaware chief calls for more action amidst grave site discoveries

Munsee-Delaware First Nation, Ont. -

"I've heard some very tragic stories and I've seen the impacts of those experiences with these people. Abuse, neglect, malnutrition, slave labour," says Chief Mark Peters of Munsee-Delaware First Nation.

Many First Nations communities across Canada grieve as the country continues to discover mass unmarked grave sites.

The most recent, was found near Cowessess First Nation in southern Saskatchewan where roughly 751 sites were discovered.

“It’s not surprising that people don’t know. To an extent, if we hadn’t experienced and known our own people’s experiences here, we wouldn’t have known either,” says Peters.

Every Child Matters shirt seen here on June 25, 2021. (Jaden Lee-Lincoln/CTV London)
Every Child Matters shirt seen here on June 25, 2021. (Jaden Lee-Lincoln/CTV London)

Nearby, the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation is also feeling the emotional effects of recent discoveries, telling CTV News London in a statement, “Our hearts are heavy with sorrow today. More weight has been added to the collective grief felt by Indigenous people.”

Both First Nations communities are calling on the government for resources to help bring them closure.

“We demand that the Canadian government and the Catholic Church respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 71 to 76 and to hand over all documents and records from these institutions which have been withheld from us and greatly hinder our ability to identify and repatriate the remains of our loved ones,” the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation said in a statement.

Mount Elgin Residential School in Muncey, Ont. seen here in this undated photo. (Jaden Lee-Lincoln/CTV London)
Mount Elgin Residential School in Muncey, Ont. seen here in this undated photo. (Jaden Lee-Lincoln/CTV London)

The community plans to conduct their own investigations to uncover unmarked grave sites on the grounds of the former Mount Elgin Residential School, which didn’t close its doors until 1946.

Peters believes there will be unmarked sites found near his community and he will be working with elders and residential school survivors to discover them.

“There are locations that need to be looked at based on memories of experiences,” he says. “Now that funding has been made available, I know investigations will be done as to where more graves might be found.”

On Friday evening, the Thames Valley district School Board announced it will lower all flags at the Dundas Street Education Centre and all of its schools to half-mast until further notice.