Spanish Indian Residential School for boys, Spanish Ontario

The Spanish Indian Residential Schools was a set of single-sex

Canadian Indian residential schools In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Government of Canada, Canadian government's Aboriginal Affairs and Northern ...

for

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

, and

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

children that operated in

Spanish, Ontario Spanish is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on Trans-Canada Highway 17 in the Algoma District near the border of the Sudbury District. Formerly known as the Township of Shedden, the municipality adopted its current status an ...

from 1913 to 1965 by the

Jesuit Fathers The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, and the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

. The boys' school was the only residential school in Canada to be operated by the Jesuit order; likewise, the girls' was the only residential school operated by the Daughters order. Collectively, the Spanish schools formed the largest residential school in Ontario.

History

Early years

Prior to the establishment of the residential school in Spanish, Ontario, the Jesuits operated a

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

Wiikwemkoong First Nation The Wiikwemkoong First Nation is a First Nations in Canada, First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario. The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory (nicknamed Wiky, previously named Wikwemikong) is the First Nations in Canada, First Nation Indi ...

beginning in 1838. In 1862, the Wikwemikong Industrial School, Girls' Department opened. In 1878, the corresponding Boys' Department was opened by the Jesuits with assistance from the Canadian government. In 1883, the director Reverend Regis Beaudin wrote to the ministry of Indian affairs with an update of students performance and of the death of 3 boys in 1882. In 1885, both schools were destroyed by fire and subsequently rebuilt. The Canadian government approved the Wikimikong School for funding through the residential school system in 1884. The reason the decision was made to move the boys school to Spanish was there was a ”strike” by the native workers. They were asking for two dollars a day for their labour. Instead of giving in or negotiating, the Jesuits decided to move the school to Spanish. (Taken from parish records.) In 1911, the girls school at Wikwemikong burned down. At the same time a decision was made to move the boys school to

, as it was believed that there would be increased access to the school in Spanish given its location near the railway. The fire at the girls school resulted in the relocation of both schools to Spanish in 1913.

St. Peter Claver School

The St. Peter Claver School for Boys in Spanish, Ontario, was the only residential school in Canada operated by the

Jesuit order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

. The school consisted of a large three-story stone building, as well as out buildings, including a barn, stable, machine sheds, saw mill, and storage buildings. Housing 180 boys, the school was located on a 600-acre site on the North Shore of

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

. The Garnier High School, commonly referred to as Garnier College, was established in 1947 and operated out of the boys school. The name ''Garnier'' was chosen in honour of St. Charles Garnier, one of the

Canadian Martyrs The Canadian Martyrs, also known as the North American Martyrs (French language, French: ''Saints martyrs canadiens'', Holy Canadian Martyrs), were eight Jesuit missions in North America#Missions, Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie among the H ...

. For administrative purposes, the schools were considered one and operated under the name ''Spanish Indian Residential School''.

St. Joseph's School

The girls' school, called the St. Joseph's School For Girls (or the Spanish Indian Residential School for Girls), relocated to a 400-acre piece of land next to the St. Peter Claver School in Spanish, Ontario, in 1913; construction of St. Joseph's would not be completed until the following year, however. The school continued to be operated by the Daughters of the Heart of Mary following the relocation, and was the only residential school in Canada to be operated by the Daughters order. During the

1918 flu epidemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

, 8 girls died at St. Joseph's. The girls' school closed on 30 June 1962. In 1981, the Girls School building was ravaged by fire. However the shell of this building still stands in Spanish, Ontario.

Closure

The girls' school closed on 30 June 1962. The Spanish schools were all closed by 1965 and the Garnier building was demolished in 2004. School land of the boys, girls, and Garnier Schools were never owned by the Canadian Government; throughout the school operation, the schools were owned by the Jesuits Fathers and the Daughters of the Heart of Mary.

Student experience

Many students came to the residential schools in Spanish, Ontario, from Indigenous communities on

Manitoulin Island Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of , it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 ...

, the shore of

, and the shore of

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. Students also came from the regions around

Parry Sound Parry Sound is a sound or bay of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, in Ontario, Canada. It is highly irregularly shaped with many deep bays and islands. Killbear Provincial Park is located on the large peninsula that separates the sound from Georgian B ...

Ottawa Valley The Ottawa Valley is the valley of the Ottawa River, along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais, Quebec, Canada. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield. Because of the surroundi ...

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

, Chapleau,

Temagami Temagami, formerly spelled as Timagami, is a municipality in northeastern Ontario, Canada, in the Nipissing District with Lake Temagami at its heart. The Temagami region is known as ''n'Daki Menan'', the homeland of the area's First Nations commu ...

New Liskeard New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz Albums and EPs * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...

. There were also students from out of province at the schools including children from

Northern Quebec Northern Quebec (french: le nord du Québec) is a geographic term denoting the northerly, more remote and less populated parts of the Canadian province of Quebec.Alexandre Robaey"Charity group works with Indigenous communities to feed Northern Quebe ...

, Akwesanse,

Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, C ...

, Kanestake, and Nelson House. Students who attended the St. Joseph's School for girls have spoken about the abuse, neglect, and the removal of individual identities which occurred at the school. As part of the assimilation at the school many of the nuns who operated the school only referred to the students by their assigned numbers and would not use the students' names. The students at the Spanish schools would have been required to work on the subsistence farm operated by the school. Parents of students at the schools complained about the quality and nutritional value of the meals being fed to the children. Author

Basil H. Johnston Basil H. Johnston (13 July 1929 – 8 September 2015) was a Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) and Canadian writer, storyteller, language teacher and scholar. Biography Johnston was born July 13, 1929 on the Parry Island Indian Reserve to Rufus and Mary (n ...

wrote extensively about his experience at the Spanish residential schools in his 1988 book '' Indian School Days''. Indigenous activist and founding member of the

National Indian Brotherhood The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is an assembly of Canadian First Nations (Indian bands) represented by their chiefs. Established in 1982 and modelled on the United Nations General Assembly, it emerged from the National Indian Brotherhood, wh ...

, Wilmer Nadjiwon, spoke publicly about his mistreatment and the repeated sexual abuse he experienced at the St. Peter Claver Residential School.

Commemoration

The first residential school reunion connected to the Spanish residential schools occurred in 1988. In 2009 a monument was erected to remember the students of the Spanish Schools. Beginning in 2010 artist Stacy Sauve began covering a tree across from the St. Joseph school site as a form of memorial. The tree includes two elders and a thunderbird.

School principals

St. Peter Claver School For Boys

St. Joseph's School for Girls

Notes

External links

Government of Canada residential school historyShingwauk Residential Schools Centre
*{{cite web, title=Pupils at Indian residential schools : 1911 Wikwemikong, 1921 Spanish and Carleton Ontario census, Updated edition (August 2016) Eric Pouliot-Thisdale , url=http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/300/eric_pouliot-thisdale/pupils_indian_residential_schools/Pupils_at_Indian_Residential_Schools_1911_1921_Wikwemikong_Spanish_Carleton_PDF_2016.pdf , publisher=Library and Archives Canada, access-date=April 22, 2019 Residential schools in Ontario Defunct schools in Canada First Nations education First Nations history Assimilation of indigenous peoples of North America