The search for unmarked burial sites and missing children at the Mohawk Institute in Brantford will shift from a criminal investigation to one led by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario.

Laura Arndt, chief operating officer for Survivors' Secretariat, announced that the criminal investigation is winding down and the coroner’s investigation will continue at the Survivors' Secretariat's first annual general meeting Feb. 28.

"We would like to thank the Police Taskforce for its assistance over the past year and a half and we look forward to the receipt of their final report which is anticipated in the fall of 2023.”

The Mohawk Institute is considered the longest operating residential school in the country, with its history dating back to 1828.

"It was run by the Anglican Church of Canada and the Government of Canada from 1828 to 1970, making it the longest operating residential school in Canada," the Survivors' Secretariat's website states. "Between 90 and 200 children were forced to attend the school each year. These children were taken from Six Nations and many other First Nations."

Arndt added that a coroner investigation differs as its focus is on the victim, rather than the culprit, and will allow for more access to the data uncovered and for more resource sharing amongst the investigators and archival researchers.

Mark Mackisoc, team leader for the Residential Schools Death Investigation Team at the Office of the Chief Coroner, spoke about his willingness to be on the project and to be able to share information with those who have been affected.

"One way or another information can and will be shared," he said. "Quite frankly, I wouldn't be as excited to be working on this team if the results of everything we're doing couldn't be shared with the people that deserve to have it," Mackisoc said.

"The goal really is to make sure no death is overlooked, ignored, or concealed and if you think about those three words, they sound very similar but they do have very distinct meanings...I think we can all agree that in the history of the residential schools all three of those things have occurred," he continued.

Six Nations Police Chief Darren Montour spoke on working with Survivors' Secretariat and his hopes to continue to provide support in the investigation.

"It's been my sincere pleasure and honour to provide the assistance we did over the last year and a half. I know we're not done yet and that's going to continue" he said. "I'm truly honoured to be apart of this because as I told all the investigators that came forward on this investigation, this is probably going to be the most passionate thing you'll deal with in your policing career."

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