BREAKING: ‘Unmarked graves’ discovery at Manitoba residential school turns out to be hoax — no bodies found, only rocks

Chief Derek Nepinak of the Minegoziibe Anishinabe said the excavation of a Catholic church on the site of a former Manitoba school found "no conclusive evidence of human remains." The lands the church is found on have been referred to as "mass graves" by outlets in the mainstream media.   

In a video on social media, Chief Nepinak said that a specialized team of archeologists that work with the police were not able to detect any "evidence of human remains" under the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Catholic Church which is the site of a former residential school in Pine Creek.  

He said this "should take nothing away from the difficult truths experienced by our families who attended the residential school in Pine Creek." 

This comes after the Catholic Church and the area around it have been implicated in several stories about mass grave sites of the Manitoba nations that used to occupy the area. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau more than once made a point to bring attention to the hoax, and was infamously seen kneeling beside the so-called graves with a teddy bear in his hand.  

14 anomalies under the basement were reported to be "possible burial sites" under the church building as recently as July. However, upon excavation, nothing was found.  

The contractor who detected the 14 anomalies under the basement also claimed that 57 others around the area of the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Catholic Church were present.  

Chief Nepinak said that his community was going to conduct a search of their own after the Kamloops First Nation had reported it had possibly discovered 215 unmarked graves at the site of its former residential school.  

Prior to the excavation, Nepinak suggested dark intentions of the supposed culprits of the now debunked grave site at the church.  

“We understand that over time burial sites may be lost to the natural elements,” he explained in an earlier press release. "But to bury remains under a building suggests a dark and sinister intent that cannot be unaddressed as we expose the truth of what happened in our homeland.”