S4 Mobile Laboratories Supports the Search for Unmarked Burials at Former Indian Residential School Sites

The search for unmarked burials at former Indian Residential School sites across Canada is one of the most significant humanitarian efforts of our time — a pursuit rooted in truth, dignity, and the long-overdue closure that First Nations communities deserve. At S4 Mobile Laboratories, we recognize the profound weight of this work and are honored to play a meaningful role in supporting it.

Locating unmarked burials is painstaking, careful work. Established geophysical methods like ground-penetrating radar have long been central to these searches, but interpreting results require experience and judgment.  Researchers like Dr. Kisha Supernant, Director of the University of Alberta's Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology, have found that when radar is combined with human-remains detection dogs and soil spectroscopy, searchers can determine with near certainty whether buried remains are present without excavation. "If all those methods coalesce around a specific location, that's about as close as we can get to saying there's a human burial in that location without excavation," Dr. Supernant has said.

S4 Mobile Laboratories is the company behind the soil spectroscopy technology that has become an important complement to these established search methods. Our Subterra Grey probe is inserted into the ground and sends back instantaneous readings, detecting the chemical markers associated with decayed remains with minimal ground disturbance. It is a gentle, respectful approach to a profoundly sensitive task.

To date, S4 and our partners have tested the Subterra Grey probes at more than seven First Nations sites and has placed three units with groups actively searching for unmarked graves across Canada. We approach every engagement with the utmost respect for the communities involved, understanding that this work is tied not just to science, but to healing, acknowledgment, and justice.

Canada’s Globe and Mail recently published a powerful piece examining the ongoing search at Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc. It is a sobering reminder of why building confidence through multiple, complementary methods is so critical. For families and nations waiting for answers, certainty is not just a technical goal, it is a critical mission for healing.

About the Subterra Grey

The Subterra Grey is S4 Mobile Laboratories' advanced soil spectroscopy solution, designed to work alongside proven geophysical methods and deliver greater clarity in complex, sensitive investigations. Its non-invasive design and real-time readings make it a trusted resource where accuracy and care are equally essential.

Read the Globe and Mail article - click here

Learn more about Subterra Grey - click here