After four years of searching with no exhumations, Canada cuts funding for indigenous grave searches at Catholic boarding schools

The Canadian government has cut funding to organizations focused on locating alleged unmarked graves of Indigenous children at Christian boarding schools. After four years of investigation, no discoveries have been reported.

In the last month, at least two organizations have publicly condemned the loss of public funding. One is the National Advisory Committee on Residential Schools Missing Children and Unmarked Burials (NAC).

"When it comes to residential school histories and children who have either died or disappeared as a result of their institutionalization ... we are still very much in the truth process," Crystal Gail Fraser, the founder of the NAC, told Canadian media outlet CBC. Fraser said she was in "shock."

Since 2021, several organizations have begun investigating land surrounding Christian boarding schools that previously housed Indigenous children, following a study that uncovered allegations of unmarked graves.

The scandal resulted in international condemnation, prompting calls for forgiveness from both Pope Francis and the government of Justin Trudeau, which agreed to fund the excavation operations. It also sparked protests and acts of vandalism against the country’s historical and Catholic heritage.

So far, no human remains have been exhumed or identified. One of the most notable cases is the Pine Creek Indian Residential School, where no graves have been discovered.

Another organization that experienced significant cuts to its public funding is the Survivors' Secretariat, an NGO focused on investigating the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ont. According to its director, Laura Arndt, the organization will run out of funds by the end of the month.

"We were flabbergasted," she said in an interview. In another, she claimed that the government could be punishing her group for its criticism: "I think Canada's message is: 'Don't bite the hand that feeds you, because we can cut the funding off.'"

The Trudeau administration did not comment on the matter.