'I was speechless': Windsor granddaughter of Indigenous residential school survivor wants action

Windsor, Ont. -

The discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves near a residential school for Indigenous children in Saskatchewan hits home for a Windsor woman, whose grandmother went to residential schools in Northern Ontario.

Ashley Fauteux says she was shocked when Cowessess First Nation confirmed Thursday that they found an estimated 751 unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan.

“I was speechless to be honest. I also kinda figured it. That amount, no,” says Fauteux.

Fauteux says in addition to the 215 unmarked graves that were discovered in Kamloops, B.C. residential school, there are probably more in other parts of Canada. There were over 140 residential schools that were operating in Canada, funded by the federal government and run by churches since the 1880s.

“The government needs to seriously take into consideration that that’s murder,” she says. “Murder is murder, so it needs to be dealt with accordingly.”

Fauteux says she has heard stories from her 87-year-old grandmother.

“I can totally relate to this, my grandmother was in residential schools up north in Ontario by Peterborough and the horrific stories that I have heard from her,” says Fauteux. “She was left-handed and they would beat her to write with her right hand.”

Her grandmother has dementia now and isn’t aware of the latest findings.

“In a way I’m kinda thankful for that because she doesn’t really know or see because it might bring back previous stories or things that she’s been through,” she says.Students at Westervelt College raise awareness and pay tribute to missing and murdered Indigenous people with the Red Dress Campaign in Windsor, Ont., on Friday, June 25, 2021. (Melanie Borrelli / CTV Windsor)

As a Windsor-Essex tribute to the Indigenous children, Fauteaux and her classmates at Westervelt College expanded their Red Dress Campaign. The campaign also raises awareness for murdered and missing Indigenous woman and girls.

Organizer and instructor at the college Liz Atkinson says they are raising awareness for everyone.

“It is really intertwined when we’re talking about the missing and murdered of the Indigenous people,” says Atkinson.

Fauteux is thankful, that unlike so many others, her grandmother made it out alive.

“If she wasn’t a survivor, my mom wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be here,” says Fauteux.

With files from CTVNews.ca