Regina Indian Industrial School cemetery granted municipal heritage status

City council has approved municipal heritage status for the Regina Indian Industrial School cemetery on September 26, 2016 with councillors voting unanimously in favour of the designation.

An unknown number of students died at the residential school, and as many as 40 are believed to be buried in the cemetery, located near Pinkie Road and Dewdney Avenue. The school was built in 1891 with the goal of assimilating First Nations children. The school was originally built in 1891 and closed in 1910.

Chief Lynn Acoose, from the Sakimay First Nation, said the cemetery is an important link to the past.“At this point in our history, where there is a need to come together and collectively work on moving beyond the painful legacy of Indian residential schools, that’s what that graveyard does for us,” Acoose said.

Acoose also said the area has become a place for learning and classes have started going there to learn about the history of residential schools.

“It may look like an insignificant piece of land, but it’s already become a place of learning and reconciliation,” she said. The cemetery, which is located on Pinkie road, has 36 different plots, but it’s unknown how many children were buried there.