(file image) Photo: 123RF
The government is being urged to look into thousands of unmarked graves across Aotearoa which could hold victims of state care abuse.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has recommended the government appoints and funds an independent advisory group to investigate potential unmarked graves and urupā at the sites of former psychiatric and psychopaedic hospitals, social welfare institutions, or other relevant sites.
It was revealed many patients who died in psychiatric and social welfare institutions between the 1800s and 1990s were given "pauper's graves".
The release of the inquiry's final report has prompted Christchurch's Waihoro-Spreydon-Cashmere-Heathcote Community Board to write to the minister responsible for the government's response to the inquiry, Erica Stanford.
The board is asking for acknowledgement for up to 1000 patients from Sunnyside Hospital with unmarked graves.
The royal commission has heard testimonies about the treatment of mentally disabled patients at the hospital, including routine use of electric shock therapy as a punishment, beatings and sexual assault.
Board deputy chairperson Keir Leslie told Checkpoint they were hoping to identify who the graves belonged to and connect them with family.
"Council staff and volunteers have been going through the death records and burial records that Sunnyside and the council hold, to try and identify who these people are.
"We would really love support from government to enable council staff and volunteers to keep working on those records to build that picture of who's there, support to work with families and people with lived experience in institutionalisation to identify what memorial or memorialisation would be appropriate, and long-term I think it would be lovely to see some physical recognition at Sydenham Cemetery of these graves."
Thousands of unmarked graves could hold victims of state care abuse
Sunnyside Hospital in Christchurch, in 1977. Photo: Supplied / Kevin Hill, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
One of the witnesses providing evidence to the inquiry identified 765 Sunnyside patients buried at Sydenham Cemetery between the years of 1896 to 1934 (the most recent year transcribed to date).
But the witness also predicted there could be upwards of 1000 Sunnyside patients at the cemetery, with the majority of these being unmarked.
Genealogist and historian Anna Purgar, who has helped uncover some of those sites, previously told RNZ that in those days there was a lot more secrecy and shame around mental illness, and family members who were hospitalised were often not discussed again.
Leslie said one challenge to grave markings was the laws around "pauper's graves". But he encouraged people who believed a family member could be among those unmarked graves to get in touch with the city council.
The issue of unmarked graves goes beyond Christchurch, with some also present at cemeteries in Porirua, Waikato and Otago.
About 500 people were buried in unmarked graves near the now closed Tokanui Psychiatric Hospital near Te Awamutu, which is now just a paddock, between 1914 and 1964.
A corridor in Tokanui Psychiatric Hospital, which opened in 1912 and closed in 1998.. Photo: Harley Plowman
In 2016, a memorial wall was installed at the paddock to honour the patients buried there.
Among the other sites listed by the royal commission for unmarked graves are Cherry Farm near Dunedin, Seacliff near Dunedin, Seaview Hospital at Hokitika, and Porirua Hospital.
Porirua appeared to have the most unmarked graves, with 1840 belonging to Porirua Hospital patients. In addition, the city council identified 847 unmarked graves at Whenua Tapu Cemetery and 25 at Pauatahanui Burial Grounds.
The inquiry said Westland District Council stated it did not hold sufficient records to conduct a search of unmarked graves at Hokitika Cemetery, but it identified 83 individuals buried there with the last known address recorded as Seaview Hospital and without a headstone recorded on the council's records.
However, the council also said the records "may not accurately reflect what is actually on the ground" in terms of grave markings.
In 2014, a local historian identified 172 unmarked graves at Waitati Cemetery, Otago, with about 85 percent of these from former institutions such as Cherry Farm and Seacliff. The historian noted that the last burial was in 1983, with many in the 1930s and 1940s.
The inquiry also heard about the use of restraints and abuse at Kimberley Hospital near Levin, later known as the Kimberley Centre, where unmarked graves were also said to be present.