Grave of boy who vanished at residential school found decades later, First Nation looks for others like him | CBC News

'It's not right… the church should have told my dad that he had passed away,' says brother

Johnny Kiyawasew was 11 years old when he died in a small town hospital in northern Alberta in 1943, a world away from his Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation family.

"My parents, like my dad, was never told about nothing. They wrote a death certificate without his knowledge or nothing," said Robert Kiyawasew, Johnny's younger brother.

After years of unanswered questions, Robert Kiyawasew said his older sister Roseann, with the help of a private investigator, found Johnny's gravesite in 2013.

According to provincial records, Johnny died of pulmonary tuberculosis in a hospital in High Prairie, where he is buried, over 75 kilometres away from the residential school.

Robert Kiyawasew said he's thankful his sister was able to track down Johnny's grave before she died.

Sturgeon Lake family's search for a brother lost at residential school

A day school survivor himself, Robert Kiyawasew said he experienced harms similar to his siblings who attended St. Francis Xavier, and was punished for speaking his language.

"We belong in our culture. Our heritage is our right to be like that."

After 50-year search, Inuk mother finds daughter's grave 2,000 km from home

Letitia John died at a residential school. Her identity was lost until now

According to the Sturgeon Lake residential school narrative at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), a summary of the school's history prepared by the Government of Canada as part of its response to litigation, at least five children died at the school in 1943.