On January 12, 2023, the Star Blanket Cree Nation announced that the use of ground penetrating radar on 55 acres of reserve land had detected over 2000 “soil anomalies,” some of which could be unmarked graves of children who had attended the Lebret residential school. This tentative finding was reinforced by presentation of a child’s jawbone, which investigator Sheldon Poitras called “physical proof of an unmarked grave.” Federal Crown-Indigenous Affairs Minister Marc Miller echoed Poitras, calling the bone the first example of verified human remains found at a residential school site. And, of course, sympathetic media figures hyped the discovery even further in their columns..But before jumping to conclusions, it would be well to exercise caution in evaluating the jawbone. Remember that two bones —a juvenile tooth and a rib — were cited as evidence in June 2021, when the Tk ’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc (Kamloops) First Nation announced that 215 unmarked graves had been found on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. But the tooth was later revealed to be not human, while the so-called rib bone, which had been found by a tourist, has disappeared without being authenticated..So, what do we know about the Star Blanket jawbone? Actually, almost nothing. The bone was reportedly found on the surface by a security guard in an “area of interest,” but it seems that no efforts were made to investigate the site. Having found a bone, common sense would dictate digging up the surrounding area to look for further evidence. Skeletal remains, plus perhaps clothing, a burial shroud, or remains of a coffin, might yield important evidence about the age and identity of the deceased as well as the date of burial. In contrast, an isolated bone allegedly brought to the surface by gophers digging their burrows tells us almost nothing. It could, after all, have been transported to the place of discovery by a predator or even by another human being.. Tom FlanaganProfessor Tom Flanagan .We don’t even know for sure that the jawbone belonged to an American Indian. The Qu’Appelle Valley, where the Star Blanket reserve is located, comprises some of the most beautiful and fertile land in Saskatchewan, and has long been inhabited by Indians, Métis, and Whites. In theory, DNA testing of the bone might have revealed the degree of Indian ancestry, if any; but it’s probably no longer possible to conduct such a test after the bone has been contaminated by so much handling..The jawbone was taken to the Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service, which reportedly said that it belonged to a child four to six years old. That seems plausible, based on the photo of the bone as seen on CBC television; but it would have been better for the Coroner’s Service to release a report describing how this conclusion was reached. It is unfortunate to repeat the spectacle of “science by press conference” that has marked other reported discoveries of unmarked graves..The Coroner’s Service also reportedly said that the bone was “historical in nature,” that is, not within the medical or legal time periods with which coroners are concerned. But Sheldon Poitras somehow converted this vague finding into the much more precise statement that the jawbone was about 125 years old. Poitras gave no evidence for this date, and it is hard to see what evidence could be provided. No scientific test can date such recent discoveries; researchers must rely on the physical context of the discovery, which is totally lacking in this case because of the way the bone was treated..Finally, connection to the Lebret Residential School seems unlikely at best. The school was founded in 1884 as one of the three first residential schools to be funded by the federal government. But it was established as an industrial school, meant to teach practical skills such as agriculture for boys and sewing for girls. The industrial schools enrolled teenagers, not five-year-old children. In the absence of more definitive information, the connection with the residential school is purely hypothetical..In short, the Star Blanket jawbone proves nothing at all about unmarked graves or the treatment of children at Indian Residential Schools; and because of the unscientific way it has been handled, it is unlikely to offer proof of anything in the future. Yet it is being hyped by media commentators as proof positive of the existence of unmarked graves containing the bodies of Indian children who were mistreated, perhaps even murdered, by the clergy who ran the residential schools, and anyone who dares to ask for actual evidence is denounced as a denialist. How much lower can the standard of debate in the public sphere sink?.Tom Flanagan is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Calgary and author of numerous books and articles on Indigenous issues.
