A memorial sits at the site of the former Cecilia Jeffery Residential School in Kenora to honour the children who attended but never made it home (Tim Davidson / Acadia Broadcasting)

A request for proposals has been put out to investigate the grounds of the former Cecilia Jeffery Residential School.

In a post to social media Grand Council Treaty Number Three states the selected partner will work closely with the Cecilia Jeffery Advisory Committee and the organization’s Economic Unit to search for evidence of unmarked burials while respecting Anishinaabe protocols.

The investigation will include the use of LiDAR, thermal imaging, photogrammetry and other methods with a requirement to report findings.

The school operated from 1901 to 1976 under the control of the Presbyterian Church.

It is the same school in where 12 year old Chanie Wenjack escaped from and tragically died from exposure in 1966 and was the basis of Gord Downie’s “The Secret Path”.

Interested parties are asked to submit their bid package electronically on or before November 13th.

This proposal comes as a similar investigation continues over at the former St. Mary’s Indian Residential School at Wauzhushk Onigum Nation.

Late last month it was announced cadaver dogs at that site had provided investigators with 22 alerts, which indicate the presence of historic human remains.