Memorial honours 8 Bunibonibee Cree Nation students, pilot killed in 1972 Winnipeg plane crash

Family members and community leaders unveiled a monument Wednesday to commemorateeight residential school students, and the pilot of their plane,who were killed in acrash in Winnipeg 52 years ago.

On June 24, 1972, eight students atStonewall Collegiate Institute and the Portage la Prairie Residential Schoolwere heading back home to their families in Bunibonibee Cree Nation, formerly known as Oxford House almost 600 kilometres northeast of Winnipegfor summer break.

The small plane they were onexperiencedengine failure and crashed into a vacant lot between two houses on Linwood Street shortly after it took off from the Winnipeg airport. The students, and the plane's pilot, all died in the crash.

"I've come to honour the memories of the eight precious young people," said Stacey Robinson, who spoke on behalf of her 98-year-old grandmother, Rosie Weenusk, at the Wednesday unveiling of the monument,held at the crash site inthe Deer Lodgeneighbourhood.

Weenusk's daughter, Iona Weenusk, was one of the peoplekilled in the crash. Rosie Weenusk, who is the only surviving parent of a crash victim,had planned to attend thememorial serviceherself but was too ill, said Robinson.

"[The crash] took our children, our sisters, our brothers, along with their dreams, their plans and their passion for their future," shesaid.

IonaWeenusk, 21, was an aspiring writer and won an award for a poem she wrote about her experience attending a residential school in Portage la Prairie.

The families of the students are "not able to have the privilege to see their futures and their dreams come true," said Robinson."Instead it's heartbreak and devastation that took place."

The families"haven't forgotten the pilot, and I thank the family for being here today," Robinson said.

Bunibonibee Cree Nation Chief Richard Hart, who also attended the ceremony, read another poem written by Iona, titled Home,whichdescribes the love she had for her community.

"My home, where the aurora borealis pulses with vitality, where the bright stars shine against the midnight blue sky, where the full moon illuminates the broad expanse of pine trees on which shrouds of sparklysnow hang," Hart read.

He said to make sure they are not forgotten, every year, people in the community commemorate those killed in the crash Iona Weenusk,Ethel Grieves, 17, Mary Rita Canada, 18, Wilkie Muskego, 16, Rosalie Belfour, 16, Margaret Robinson, 16, siblings Roy and Deborah Sinclair, 18 and 14, and the pilot, Wilbur S. Coughlin, 47.

Plane crash memorial honours 9 people who died in 1972

1 day ago

Duration 2:04

It's been 54 years since Winnipeg experienced the worst plane crash in its history. In 1972, nine people died when a small plane crashed in the Deer Lodge neighbourhood. Now that crash has been memorialized forever as a dark chapter in both aviation history and the tragedy of residential schools.

"It truly was the most devastating day in our community to lose eight students, especially when our community was still quite small at the time and very isolated," Hart said.

Of the eight, two were at the Portage la Prairie Residential School and six were living with host families and attending Stonewall Collegiate Institute.

The families were eager to reunite with their children after they were taken away from their community, culture and traditions to attendschool, Hart said.

Many children who attended residential schools came home with a broken spirit, he said.

Some students, like the eight from Bunibonibee,died trying to get home, he said.

The placement of the monument near thecrash sitewill bring people together, and help them learn about the history and impact of residential schools and honour the victims, said Hart.

"I wish the Indian residential school system, and taking children awayfrom their homes, had never taken place," he said during Wednesday's ceremony. "Then maybe the tragedy of June 24 would never have taken place."

The monument was created in collaboration between the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, the City of Winnipeg and Bunibonibee Cree Nation.

"We want to make sure those lives will never, ever, ever be forgotten, so what that led to was the memorial," Royal Aviation Museum CEO and president Terry Slobodian said.

"People will come by, hear the story and reflect on it."