Chief would back excavating possible graves at B.C. residential school if elders, community want it

The chief of the Williams Lake First Nation says he would support excavating possible unmarked graves at the site of the former St. Joseph’s Mission residential school if that’s what elders and the community decide is best.

But the decision is complex, involving dozens of other First Nations whose children also attended the institution, numerous landowners, potential DNA tests, multiple levels of government, the coroner and the RCMP.

All that is in addition to the anxiety Chief Willie Sellars said he has about ensuring there isn’t more trauma for survivors if bodies are found.

“I really start stressing out when I start thinking about excavation,” Sellars said in an interview.

“And we’re going to get there, I would imagine, but it’s not going to happen overnight.”

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66 more potential graves found at former residential school near Williams Lake

The First Nation announced this week that 66 more “reflections,” indicating possible graves, were found with radar and other methods during the second phase of its work around the site of the former Catholic-run school, 500 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

The nation announced in its first phase of searching last year that 93 potential graves were detected.

Chief Joe Alphonse, chair of the Tsilhqot’in National Government, which represents six Tsilhqot’in communities whose children attended St. Joseph’s Mission, said the nation would be open to having conversations about exhumation, but it could also issue a cease-and-desist order if it isn’t properly involved.

Alphonse said their government wants more than just updates from the Williams Lake First Nation and should be “part of the planning and every…