Northland School Division

The Board of Trustees of Northland School Division and Administration extend our thoughts and prayers in regards to the announcement about the former St. Bernard Indian Residential School in Grouard. We extend our sympathies to the Kapawe’no First Nation, Grouard residents and to all who are grieving. Our hearts go out to them.

Today, March 1, 2022, the Kapawe’no First Nation, with support from Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta and the team from Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology at the University of Alberta, released a preliminary report that says 169 potential graves were identified by ground-penetrating radar at the St. Bernard Indian Residential School site. The summary is available on their website, www.kapaweno.com, and details the work done based on the survivor testimony, oral history, or archival research that was conducted.

Northland School Division recognizes the injustice that has been done to Indigenous families and acknowledges the deep and ongoing harm that the residential school legacy is having on many people in the communities we serve. These were children with families who loved them and who should have had long, fulfilling lives ahead of them. 

This is a dark time in the history of Canada.

As part of our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation education, Northland School Division is focused on supporting every child and remembering those who did not make it home as a result of the residential school legacy. 

Flags at Northland schools and buildings are at half-mast and will remain that way until further notice in remembrance of all of the children who died at residential schools and all those who continue to feel the impact of residential schools.