Recently, the remains of 215 children were discovered on land belonging to a former Catholic boarding school for indigenous people in British Columbia, sending shockwaves through Canadian society.
Now Canada is shaken by yet another discovery.
More than 750 unmarked graves have been found at a former aboriginal boarding school in southeastern Saskatchewan.
This is stated by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), which represents the indigenous population.
It is unclear how many were buried
FSIN describes the find as terrible and shocking.
And according to the organization's director Bobby Cameron, this is just the beginning of the number of children that will be found.
- This was a crime against humanity, an attack on First Nations (Canada's indigenous population, ed. amn.).
Cameron told CBC News.
The now closed boarding school was run between 1899 and 1997 by the Catholic Church.
It is unclear how many children and adults are buried at the site.
"Tragic, but not surprising," tweeted Perry Bellegarde, national director of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), a political organization representing about 900,000 of Canada's Aboriginal people.
"Shameful reminder of systematic racism"
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a longer statement on Thursday that he was terribly sorry, while describing the discoveries as part of a larger tragedy.
"They are a shameful reminder of the systemic racism, discrimination and injustice that Indigenous people have faced - and continue to face - in this country," said Trudeau.
"We cannot bring them back, but we will honor their memory and we will tell the truth about these injustices."
Between 1831 and 1996, 150,000 Aboriginal children were forced to attend boarding schools.
According to a truth commission, many were subjected to neglect and abuse, writes TT.