First Nation in northeastern Manitoba 'looking forward' to memorial to 1972 tragedy, chief says – Winnipeg

The chief of a First Nation in northeastern Manitoba says his community hopes a project to commemorate the nine people killed in a plane crash 52 years ago — eight of them schoolchildren — will go ahead as planned.

On June 24, 1972, a plane carrying students from boarding schools in Portage la Prairie and Stonewall to the Buniboni Cree Nation for summer vacation crashed into a vacant lot on Linwood Street in Winnipeg, with no survivors.

Richard Hart, head of Bunibonibee, also known as Oxford House, told 680 CJOB. News Thursday was a joyous day in the community as mostly teenagers reunited with their families.

“The school year is over, and we've had several of our young people go home that day that went to boarding school,” Hart said.

“Everyone was enthusiastic. It was a beautiful day. Children were coming home. Their families haven't seen their loved ones for 10 months… Such a wonderful day ended in tragedy.”

The First Nation is working in partnership with the Royal Canadian Aviation Museum and the city to place a memorial to the crash victims on the Yellow Ribbon Greenway trail near the crash site at Linwood and Silver avenues.

The plan includes a pedestal monument with the names of the victims, as well as a small park area.

Hart said a similar monument has been erected in Portage-la-Prairie, on the site of one of the schools the students attended, and the community itself remembers the event every year, no matter how difficult it is for those left behind.

“We fight it ourselves, we fight it every year with commemorations,” he said.

“Many family members want to put it behind them because it brings up too many painful memories. But at the same time, the families directly involved with the victims of this tragedy welcomed the commemoration.”

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Hart said many relatives of the victims live in Bunibonibi, including the mother of one of the teenagers, who is still active in the community and is in her 90s.

The monument, he said, is a reminder of a tragedy in Winnipeggers' own backyard that has been forgotten or even completely unknown to younger generations, and to help educate Manitobans about another aspect of the residential school system. as part of ongoing efforts towards reconciliation.

“We were looking forward to the grand opening of the park and monument,” he said.

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