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Archival records can tell us what residential school a child attended, for how long, and sometimes, details about what their time at residential school was like. These records can be a way of tracing a child’s presence (or absence) from residential school, providing necessary context for 

Importantly, for children that went missing from school or passed away at school, determining when and where this occurred can help to indicate where they may have been buried, or their last known location.  

Vital Statistics records such as birth records and death records may be held in Governmental archival collections, and can be very important in tracing a child through the archives. Death records are especially helpful here, as they often list place of burial and cause of death (if any identified) in the record. Churches also often kept burial records for the cemeteries under their control, and referencing burial lists from local cemeteries against the names recorded on quarterly returns is often a way to determine if children who attended the residential school are buried in these cemeteries.

A genealogical society might also have the information you are looking for as it was a practice for many genealogical societies in Canada to transcribe church burial lists for their members or similarly, record the location of graves at cemeteries that were deteriorating. For example, the Alberta Genealogical Society has an that is searchable online for a fee. The AGS can also assist you at one of their in person.

The locations where residential schools or other institutions were located have changed across time. Buildings have been built and moved, infrastructure has been developed, and land has been parcelled off and sold. Therefore, a crucial aspect of searching for unmarked graves is to determine what the land looked like in the time period you have questions about, especially as it compares to the modern landscape. 

When you are determining what areas of land to search for unmarked burials, archives are a valuable resource for understanding how the landscape has changed over time. For example, old maps or photographs may identify burial locations that are no longer in use or known to the general public, or the locations of buildings that no longer exist. This information is a necessary step to conducting a ground search, as searching an area that used to have a building with a foundation (or had subsequent construction occur on site) will not be a good use of technology. 

The goal in this case is to determine what changes occurred to the landscape in each decade since the school’s opening until present day. A good place to start will be with the . These documents provide a summary of the school’s history, citations of relevant archival records, and often contain photographs, maps, or building plans of the school in question. It is important to compile information from different sources, as no single map, image, or building plan will provide a complete picture of all the changes on the landscape alone. Indigenous Services Canada has also put together a for historical aerial imagery on residential school landscapes, which is a great example of some of the changes that have occurred from when the school was in operation to the present day.

Some of the most helpful documents for landscape reconstruction are aerial photos. Before satellite imagery, aerial photos of the land were taken by the Canadian Government to provide an inventory of natural resources and were used to create maps of the land. Aerial imagery is often widely available for most parts of Canada after the 1940s, but some parts of Canada have aerial imagery starting from the 1900s. Aerial photos are often stored in Governmental repositories (such as Natural Resources Canada, or Provincial Government repositories) rather than stored in archives like other records might be. For additional information on how to understand and order aerial photos in Alberta, please see the IPIA Guide to Ordering Aerial Photos .

After compiling the different records and sources of information, you may need to seek the help of someone with experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which can be someone from Lands Departments, Archaeologists, or other individuals in related disciplines. The goal is to put the historical information into a map (an ArcGIS Pro tutorial for this can be found ), which outlines where buildings used to be and to track these changes over the decades. This information can then be used to identify areas that are either suitable or unsuitable for different types of technology that can be used to locate unmarked graves, which will help to establish a detailed survey plan, in collaboration with technical experts, to cover all areas of interest.

Tips for Landscape Reconstruction

• Record and reference what information was found in which record so you can retrace your steps easily.
• Cross reference archival data from multiple sources. 
• Try to gather information about the landscape from each decade it was in operation until present day.
• Maps and survey plans are often kept in different archives compared to other types of archival records. Try contacting municipal, provincial, and federal lands or resources departments to see if they have old survey plans, maps, or other records of the areas.