Excavation is the only technique that will provide answers
In the interior of British Columbia, the earth continues to yield what history tried to conceal: Williams Lake First Nation has now identified 159 possible unmarked graves on the grounds of St. Joseph's Mission, a residential school that drew children from 43 communities across 500 kilometres for nearly a century. The discovery, made through aerial and ground-penetrating technology across 18.4 hectares, is not merely an archaeological finding but a reckoning — one that forces questions about who holds the authority to disturb the ground, who bears the grief, and how a wound shared across dozens of nations can be tended without fracturing the relationships that healing requires.
- Each new reflection in the soil — 66 more this week alone — doubles the scale of a loss that was never meant to be found, pushing the total to 159 suspected graves and the search area to 780 hectares.
- The technology can locate the dead, but it cannot resolve who speaks for them: St. Joseph's Mission took children from at least 43 communities, and any move toward exhumation risks becoming an act of exclusion as much as remembrance.
- Chief Joe Alphonse of the Tsilhqot'in National Government has drawn a clear line — excavation without unified consent from all affected nations would prompt legal action, exposing a fault line between proximity, jurisdiction, and shared grief.
- Government funding and ministerial attention have flowed primarily to Williams Lake First Nation as the host community, leaving leaders of nations more than 100 kilometres away feeling consulted rather than included.
- A sacred fire burns through Saturday at Williams Lake, holding space for mourning while the harder question — who decides what happens next — remains unanswered.
Williams Lake First Nation announced this week that ground-penetrating radar and aerial imaging have uncovered 66 additional possible burial sites at the former St. Joseph's Mission residential school in British Columbia, bringing the total number of suspected unmarked graves to 159 — more than double what the community had identified a year earlier. The search covered 18.4 hectares over 59 days, using planes equipped with lidar, magnetometry, and aerial photography. None of the newly identified sites fall within a documented cemetery.
St. Joseph's Mission operated from 1891 to 1981, drawing Indigenous children from at least 43 communities across a 500-kilometre radius. Community researchers believe at least 20 children died there and were buried on the property; 17 deaths appear in national records, and local investigation has surfaced three more. Lead investigator Whitney Spearing was careful to note that excavation remains the only method that can confirm whether human remains are present.
That prospect has exposed deep tensions over authority and belonging. Chief Willie Sellars of Williams Lake First Nation said the community would seek further government funding to complete the search and potentially proceed with exhumation. But Chief Joe Alphonse of the Tsilhqot'in National Government — whose six communities sent countless children to the school from more than 100 kilometres away — warned that any excavation without unified consent from all affected nations would force his government to explore legal action. He distinguished between being consulted after decisions are made and being genuinely involved in the investigation itself.
The question of funding has sharpened that divide. Government support has concentrated on Williams Lake First Nation because of its proximity to the site, while nations farther away feel their connection to the buried children goes unrecognized. When the Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister posted about the discovery, he named only Williams Lake.
The search area has itself grown — from 470 to 780 hectares — after new information emerged about possible crimes in the school's outbuildings. Three staff members were convicted of sexually abusing students in the 1980s and 1990s. As the community holds a sacred fire through Saturday to honour those who attended the school, the path forward — who decides, who funds, and how dozens of nations reach agreement — remains unresolved.
Williams Lake First Nation announced this week that ground-penetrating radar and aerial imaging have revealed 66 additional possible burial sites on the grounds of a former residential school in British Columbia's interior. The discovery, made across 18.4 hectares over 59 days of searching, brings the total number of suspected unmarked graves to 159—more than double the 93 the community identified a year earlier.
St. Joseph's Mission operated from 1891 to 1981, drawing Indigenous children from at least 43 communities scattered across a 500-kilometre radius. The school was run by Catholic orders for most of its 90-year existence. Community researchers believe at least 20 children died there and were buried in unmarked graves throughout the property. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation's records document 17 of those deaths; local investigation has uncovered three more.
Whitney Spearing, the lead investigator for the search, explained that the team used a sophisticated toolkit to locate the graves: planes equipped with light detection and ranging technology, aerial photography, magnetometry, and ground-penetrating radar. None of the newly discovered sites fall within a documented cemetery, she noted. The reflections the equipment detected "display characteristics indicative of potential human burials," Spearing said, though she was clear about what comes next: "Excavation is the only technique that will provide answers as to whether or not there are human remains present."
That prospect has opened a fault line between communities. Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars said the community would seek additional government funding to complete the search and potentially proceed with exhumation. But excavation cannot happen in isolation. St. Joseph's Mission drew students from dozens of nations, and any disturbance of remains carries profound cultural, religious, and ceremonial weight. Chief Joe Alphonse of the Tsilhqot'in National Government, which represents six communities more than 100 kilometres away, made the stakes explicit: "If they are going to start digging any of this stuff up without us, we would have to explore legal action." He added that while the Tsilhqot'in would support excavation, all affected nations would need to work together and reach unified agreement.
Spearing said the search team had conducted extensive engagement sessions with surrounding communities. Alphonse countered that he wanted direct involvement in the investigation itself, not merely consultation after decisions were made. He also noted that countless Tsilhqot'in children attended the school, yet government funding for the search has concentrated on Williams Lake First Nation because of its proximity to the site. When Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller posted about the discovery on Wednesday, he mentioned only Williams Lake by name, offering support to that community specifically.
The search area itself has expanded dramatically. The original investigation covered 470 hectares. New information about possible crimes in various outbuildings prompted researchers to widen the scope to 780 hectares. In the 1980s and 1990s, three staff members at St. Joseph's were convicted of sexually abusing students.
Meanwhile, Williams Lake First Nation is holding a sacred fire through Saturday, a space for community members to remember and honour those who attended the school. Sellars spoke to the weight of the moment: "Holding each other up during these hard times is how we're going to get through it." The question of how to proceed—and who gets to decide—remains unresolved.
Notable Quotes
If they are going to start digging any of this stuff up without us, we would have to explore legal action.— Chief Joe Alphonse, Tsilhqot'in National Government
Holding each other up during these hard times is how we're going to get through it.— Chief Willie Sellars, Williams Lake First Nation
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does it matter that these 66 new sites were found outside the documented cemetery?
Because it suggests the school buried children in places no one was supposed to know about. A known cemetery is one thing—there's a record, a reason. These scattered sites tell a different story about what happened.
The chief mentioned legal action. Is that a real threat, or negotiating language?
Both, probably. He's saying: we have leverage, and we will use it if we're excluded. But he's also saying he wants excavation to happen—just not without him at the table.
Why does the minister only mention Williams Lake in his statement?
That's the question everyone's asking. Williams Lake is leading the search, but they're not the only nation affected. It looks like the government is treating this as a single community's problem when it's actually a multi-nation issue.
What happens if the nations can't agree on excavation?
Then you have 159 possible graves and no legal pathway forward. The remains stay in the ground. Or someone digs without permission and faces a lawsuit.
How many children are we actually talking about?
At least 20 believed dead. Seventeen documented. Probably more that no one knows about yet. That's what the search is trying to answer.