Three Canadian indigenous tribes will work with the Catholic Archdiocese to investigate the former St. Paul’s Indian Residential School in Vancouver.

The investigation by the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations and the church will look at the more than 2,000 children that were housed at the school, and what happened to them, including if any were buried in unmarked or undocumented sites.

The school was in operation from 1889-1959 and was funded by the Canadian Government, but run by the Roman Catholic order Sisters of the Child Jesus.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver have been working with Indigenous groups in the investigation.

After attending St. Paul's, many of the children were sent to the Kamloops Indian Residential School, where the remains of more than 200 children were discovered in May.

According to the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, a local inspector said he thought the children at St. Paul's were not being fed properly in 1931.

The Indian Commissioner for British Colombia also called the school a “death trap” and a “fire trap” in 1933.

Public records show that 12 students died while at St. Paul's, the Global News reports.

Indigenous groups want to locate the remains of these children and bring them home.

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