Turtle Crossing seeks helping hand
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on brandonsun.com
- Read the Brandon Sun E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
*Your next Free Press subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/04/2024 (776 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Turtle Crossing Campground owner Mark Kovatch is seeking community support to move a decorative fence that honours the unmarked graves of the original Brandon Residential School Cemetery before the area is potentially flooded this week.
The City of Brandon and Kovatch came to an agreement last year to have the fence erected. The city funded the fence but maintenance is Kovatch’s responsibility. He hopes to have help to move the fence at 6 p.m. today.
“We might flood this year, so I just don’t want to take any chances because it’s a beautiful fence,” Kovatch told the Sun Tuesday.
Mark Kovatch, owner of Turtle Crossing Campground with his wife Joan, is asking for volunteers to help temporarily move the fencing surrounding the Brandon Residential School Cemetery within the campground today at 6 p.m. to prevent it from being damaged by water from the rising Assiniboine River. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
A 2021 investigation conducted by Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in partnership with researchers from Simon Fraser University, Brandon University and the University of Windsor found more that 100 potential graves at three previously identified burial grounds in the area.
The gravesite on Kovatch’s property is the original cemetery for Indigenous students who died while attending the Brandon Indian Residential School, which operated from 1890 to 1972. The Brandon Residential School Cemetery was established in 1896 and is believed to have closed in 1912 when the Brandon City Parks Board and city council inquired about buying school lands along the Assiniboine River so that they could develop a suburban park, according to the Turtle Crossing website.
Once this sale was in motion, Brandon Indian Residential School principal Rev. Thompson Ferrier believed it to be “unwise” to continue to bury on a plot of land that would soon become public property because “some sentiment might arise regarding the matter,” the website says.
In 1970, Brandon Girl Guides requested permission to care for the original cemetery located in what was known as Curran Park. By 1972, the Brandon Rotary Club erected the original log fence while the Girl Guides planted flowers and provided a plaque. Eventually, the plaque and fence were destroyed by repeated flooding of the nearby Assiniboine River.
The new fence was made to be portable, but Kovatch says it is too heavy for him to move it on his own. He hopes to have it moved up the road at least until this week’s flood warning has passed.
“It was made so we could take it out of harm’s way.”
» cmcconkey@brandonsun.com