Bunibonibee Cree Nation marks a painful milestone June 24 — the 50th anniversary of a plane crash that killed eight students who were on their way back to Oxford House after completing the school year.
The crash of a Beechcraft plane operated by Ilford Riverton Airways claimed the lives of Mary Rita Canada, 18, Wilkie Muskego, 16, Roy Sinclair, 16, Deborah Sinclair, 14, Iona Weenusk, 21, Margaret Robinson, 16, Ethel Grieves, 17, and Rosalie Balfour, 16. All were BCN members except Balfour, who was a member of Norway House Cree Nation but grew up in Oxford House.
The pilot also died in the crash.
The plane had just left the airport in Winnipeg, according to reports at the time, and was at an altitude of about 300 feet before the engines began to falter and it crashed in an empty lot between two houses and caught fire.
Two of the students — Grieves and Weenusk— were students at portage la Prairie Residential School, while the others were living with billet families and attending Stonewall Collegiate Institute.
The school in BCN at that time only offered education up to Grade 8. In 1973, it was expanded up to Grade 10 and then later to Grade 12.
A new school opened up in the community last October. It is named 1972 Memorial High School in honour of the memories of the students who died.
“June 24, 1972, was one of the darkest days for Bunibonibee Cree Nation,” said Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee in a news release commemorating the tragedy. “We will never stop wondering what those eight young people could have achieved had they not been victims of that plane crash. I know there are still questions around the cause of the crash, and I hope one day these questions may be answered. These young people from Bunibonibee were required to leave their home community to pursue their education. This plane crash and the loss of these young people is one impact of the residential school system in Manitoba.”
Many First Nation students from remote communities still leave home to complete high school in Winnipeg, Thompson or at Frontier Collegiate institute in Cranberry Portage.
“Our young people should be able to complete their education in their own First Nations,” said Settee.
There is a memorial to the students at the former site of the residential school they were attending. The students are buried together in a fenced-off area in a cemetery in BCN.
BCN Chief Richard Hart told the Winnipeg Free Press last fall that people are still dealing with mental and emotional fallout of this crash as well as of the residential school system in general and that not having to leave the community to finish high school is a relief to many residents.
“It means a lot that students can get their education at home, stay at home, be with their parents and graduate in the community,” Hart said. “It means a tremendous amount of pride and, at the same time, without the fear of having to send out your kids at such a young age.”
