Heritage status for residential school cemetery in Regina

The cemetery at Regina’s Indian Industrial School has officially received heritage status.

At a council meeting Monday, Regina councillors voted unanimously to designate the site as a municipal heritage property.

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.