Acimowin Opaspiw Society Says Police Refusing To Investigate Saddle Lake Mass Graves

By  Jeremy Appel  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A year after announcing the discovery of undocumented mass graves at the former Blue Quills Residential School, the head of the Acimowin Opaspiw Society (AOS) says the RCMP and Alberta chief medical examiner are refusing to assist in their investigation. The AOS is a non-profit based out of Saddle Lake Cree Nation, where Blue Quills operated from 1898 to 1932 before the forced assimilation institution was moved to St. Paul County, where it remained until its closure in 1970. At a Jan. 24 press conference on Enoch Cree Nation, AOS executive director Leah Redcrow said this lack of cooperation from authorities is the product of “continued negligence and institutional racism against our people.” The first of the communal graves was discovered by “accidental…

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