Seven-hundred and fifty-one lights spanned the entirety of the unmarked graves discovered on Cowessess First Nation in southeast Saskatchewan where a large group of people, many wearing orange clothes, gathered on Saturday night in honor of the remains.

An elder in the community who spoke at the vigil likened the finding of 751 unmarked graves to a scab that had been "slowly healing" being ripped off.

Speaking in a matter-of-fact tone, the elder explained to those in attendance that the journey to healing for those affected by the discovery is ongoing and long from over.

Band leaders say the unmarked graves belong to children, teens, band members and others from outside the community. Many of the remains are believed to be Indigenous children who were taken from their families and forced to attend the former Marieval Indian Residential School.

The lights were placed on the unmarked graves in an effort co-ordinated by the Cowessess Youth Council and staff from the Chief Red Bear Children's Lodge, with a single light placed beside each of the flags now marking where the ground-penetrating radar technology located remains earlier this week.

The discovery has spurred anger and sadness for many across Canada and around the globe as it came just weeks after the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation said that preliminary findings from a survey of the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in B.C. indicated the remains of an estimated 215 children were on site.

>>> Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/survivors-community-honour-751-unmarked-graves-at-sask-residential-school-site-with-vigil-1.6082063

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