Ground search efforts will begin Monday at two former First Nation student residential sites in Whitehorse.

The Yukon Residential School Missing Children Project (YRSMCP) will oversee the search of two parcels of land in Riverdale where First Nation student residences once operated in the 1960s and 1970s.

Yukon Hall, a non-denominational, Church-operated residence, was open between 1960 and 1985.

Courdert Hall, the former Whitehorse Roman Catholic Indian Hostel, operated from 1960 to 1971.

The Ta’an Kwäch’än Council (TKC) and Kwanlin Dün First Nation (KDFN) made the announcement about the search plans this morning.

While all buildings have been demolished, both sites were since identified and claimed as First Nation Settlement Lands – Yukon Hall (KDFN) and Courdert Hall (TKC).

Using a special ground-penetrating radar system, technology that has proved to be able to detect anomalies, crews will be on site Monday at Yukon Hall and continue their work until May 4.

The search will enlist a small technical crew using minimal equipment. The scientific exercise is not expected to cause any disruption to neighbouring areas.

Private ceremonies by both TKC and KDFN citizens are scheduled to take place prior to the work beginning.

The First Nations are asking members of the public not to visit these sites during the search efforts, as to not disrupt the crews and their work.

The YRSMCP was created in 2021 after 215 unmarked graves were discovered at the former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

Since then, and under the direction of the YRSMCP, several Yukon communities have, and will be able to assist in research and consultation focused on former residential school sites in Carcross, Dawson City, Whitehorse and beyond.

Mandated to learn the truth about children who went missing from Yukon residential schools, including those who may be buried in unmarked burial sites, the project is conducting survivor interviews.

It’s also organizing the ground searches and archiving research materials to uncover the truth about missing children.

Through this process, the YRSMCP aims to better understand what happened during these times and bring closure and healing to families and communities, the First Nations said.

“This search effort marks an important chapter for Yukon First Nations, not just here in Whitehorse, but for all Yukon families who lost a child, many still unaccounted for, during the residential school system era,” said TKC Chief Amanda Leas.

“It is our hope these efforts may help Yukon families, Ta’an members included, who may have suffered unfathomable abuse while residing in the dorms and hostels that once operated on these sites.

“This TKC parcel of Settlement Land once housed a hostel that has a known history of abuse and has been a painful reminder that the trauma endured here, and other residential school properties not too long ago, was very real,” Leas added.

The work that First Nations leaders Judy Gingell and Doris Bill and elders involved in the project are doing “takes courage, and we at TKC want to thank them from our hearts for all they do,” Leas said.

“If you have stories, they will listen. If you have anything to share about missing children, now is the time to come forward, so we can get some answers and better our children’s tomorrow.”

KDFN Chief Sean Smith added that since the discovery of the unmarked graves in Kamloops, “many Canadians have become aware of the truths of residential school and the horrific, violent past that First Nation children had to face and live with.

“In Whitehorse, many of my people from Kwanlin Dün and others stayed at Yukon Hall and Courdert Hall in Whitehorse, Yukon.

“This search will allow for the beginning of healing for KDFN and TKC citizens who attended schools in Whitehorse,” Smith added.

“When we face truths of what happened in those institutions and acknowledge their stories, then healing can begin.”

Many community groups in the Yukon and across Canada are involved in “unmasking the truths of what oc-
curred in residential school,” Smith said.

“Kwanlin Dün First Nation leadership raise our hands to Yukon Residential School Missing Children Project, Ground Truth Technicians and First Nations for the hard work they are doing in our respective communities.”

Premier Ranj Pillai said it’s with “humility and open minds and hearts that we acknowledge the truth and learn of the harms caused by the tragic and hurtful legacy of residential schools.

“Let us hold space for survivors, their families and communities who continue to mourn all that was lost.

“Let us connect and help each other through this trying time,” Pillai added.

“We must carry the weight of residential schools together as a community in solidarity, unity and with great compassion.

“ .... In better understanding the truth of the Yukon’s past, we can continue along the path towards reconciliation.”