A historical marker commemorating the victims of a plane crash more than 50 years ago has been unveiled near the crash site in Winnipeg.
On June 24, 1972, eight students from residential schools in southern Manitoba were returning home to Bunibonibee Cree Nation (BCN) by plane but shortly after take off in Winnipeg, the plane crashed – killing all including the pilot.
“Everyone in our community remembers this as the darkest day in our community’s history and we need to ensure it is never forgotten,” says Bunibonibee Chief Richard Hart at the monument’s unveiling.
Students Rosalie Balfour, Mary Rita Canada, Ethel Grieves, Wilkie Muskego, Margaret Robinson, Roy Sinclair, Deborah Sinclair, and Iona Weenusk were aged between 14 to 21 years old.
What would have been a joyous reunion for the families turned to devastation as they learned their fate. The families of the students and the pilot, Wilbur Coughlin, came from BCN, Ontario, and British Columbia to see the unveiling take place.
Hart says that if residential schools didn’t exist, perhaps the students would still be alive today.
“Many First Nations students across Canada returned to their communities with a broken spirit that could not be healed. Many died alone while at these schools and were buried in unmarked graves,” says Hart, “Others like our students died just trying to get home. Home, where the familiar, and the family, and the feeling of safety [lay].”
The monument stands only a few hundred meters away from where the plane crashed in the Winnipeg suburb of St. James.
It’s still not clear what caused the accident.
The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada requested the monument’s creation, and it was unanimously approved by city council earlier this year.
Stacy Robinson is the niece of Iona Weenusk, one of the plane crash victims.
She says the monument may bring closure for some families, but not all.
“There’s still that heartache that they’re missing their sisters and their brothers, right? It’s kind of hard to say if there’s a closure, but having the stone here means a lot to the families,” says Robinson, who is thankful to the City of Winnipeg for erecting the monument.
