The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has recommended the government appoint and fund 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.
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 Erica Stanford, the minister responsible for the government’s response to the inquiry.
The board is asking for acknowledgment 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.
The board is hoping to identify who the graves belonged to and connect them with family. Council staff and volunteers are working on death and burial records to try and identify who these people are.
The issue of unmarked graves extends beyond Christchurch; some are 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 between 1914 and 1964. 2016 a memorial wall was installed at the paddock to honor buried patients.
Porirua appeared to have the most unmarked graves, with 1840 belonging to Porirua Hospital patients. The city council identified 847 unmarked graves at Whenua Tapu Cemetery and 25 at Pauatahanui Burial Grounds.
The inquiry said Westland District Council did not hold sufficient records to search unmarked graves at Hokitika Cemetery. Still, 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.
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