"Still Standing: Why the Muscowequan Residential School Remains Today” 

is a
section from the Indigenous People's Atlas of Canada. The book's author is The
Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Canada's national Indigenous
organizations.
The section is about the residential school that persists as a memento to
remember First Nations children who died resisting giving up their culture and
values and a reminder of all the appalling acts of barbarity displaced on them.
Additionally, how the First Nations communities are honouring the many
unmarked graves.

The Muscowequan Residential School, built around 1886, was initially operated
by the catholic churches and then by the federal government and is now used as
Muscowequan Community Centre. The injustice performed in these residential
schools in the name of assimilation attacked the First Nations' lifestyle and beliefs.
Even though the school has been closed for many years, for the people of
Saskatchewan Qu'Appelle Valley, it still depicts a site of commemoration and
memory.

In 1982, The Saskatchewan government ceased managing the residential school.

In 1997, the schools were completely sealed, and the provincial government
provided the funding to demolish the Residential School, but the community
declined to tear down the building. Even though it brought back horrible
memories for the survivors and the families of the dead, but the community still
wanted to preserve it as a museum and archive. For the community of First
Nations, this school is a place of remembering the persistent resistance against
the attack on one's human rights, inequality towards both children and families of
the First Nations. It also represents the children and their families' courage and
hope for a promising future.

In these schools, the children were forced not to practice their customs and
traditions, erase their family rituals, and forget their mother tongue, resulting in
identity crisis and depression. Due to this constant pressure, exploitation,
negligent behaviour of the management and diseases, many children died. Some
tried to run away, got successful but are still suffering from a prolonged act of
infringement.
The saddest part is that these kids' families were unaware of when a kid died. The
school's management would take months to inform the families of the death of
their child. Some of the families still await. Even if they knew, they would not be
able to honour them as there was no record of their burial.

There are many unmarked graves in Saskatchewan; Touchwood Agency Tribal

Council is working to commemorate these undocumented graves. The Truth and
Reconciliation Commission has documented around 3100 unmarked graves,
whereas there can be more than 6000. A construction company in 1992
incidentally discovered an unmarked gravesite, bringing out remains of around 20
children. The number of children buried there is estimated much higher than that.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) invites The National Centre
for Truth and Reconciliation, the federal and provincial governments, and local
communities to support TRC in respectfully honouring the unmarked graves and
documenting missing children. Unfortunately, despite all commission efforts,
some graves will be unrecognizable due to negligence in keeping records. Some
families will reunite with their loved ones.

Even though many years have passed, some people are still suffering, and families are waiting for
answers. This pathway of reunion of children who went to residential schools and their families is
undoubtedly a complex and lengthy process, but in the end, it brings peace to children and closure to
the families. Moreover, keeping monuments like Muscowequan Residential School still standing
commemorates the children and makes people aware of what happened.

Still standing. Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17,
2021, from https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/still-standing/.