Shingwauk Indian Residential School

Early Indian Schools in Sault Ste. Marie

Prior to the establishment of the Shingwauk School smaller school mission schools existed in Sault Ste. Marie. In 1833 William McMurray, an Anglican missionary arrived in Garden River First Nation. His arrival resulted in the establishment of a day school at the top of Pim Hill in Sault Ste. Marie. This day school was attended by children from Garden River First Nation and was funded by the government and the Anglican Church. A second day mission school was later established in the Garden River community in 1870.

Shingwauk Industrial Home

In 1871, Anglican Missionary Reverend Edward Francis Wilson arrived in Garden River First Nation. He worked with the Anglican Church, government, and local First Nation community to raise money for a school. As a result of his fundraising efforts, the first Shingwauk Industrial Home opened on September 22, 1873 in Garden River First Nation. The school opened with sixteen boys enrolled as students. Six days after opening the school was completed destroyed by fire.

Shingwauk Home

Following the destruction of the School in Garden River, Rev. E.F. Wilson purchased a 90-acre site of land in Sault Ste. Marie, at what is now known as 1520 Queen Street East. On July 31, 1874 the Earl of Dufferin, Governor General of Canada visited the school site and laid the corner stone of what would become the Shingwauk Home. The new school officially opened on August 2, 1875 to 50 students. The school did not have running water or electricity. This building was replaced by the New Shingwauk Hall in 1935.

Wawanosh Home

The Shingwauk Home building was not designed to accommodate both male and female students. As a result the Wawanosh Home, a separate girls residential school was established 5 km away in Sault Ste. Marie. The school opened in 1877 with an initial enrollment of ten female students. Construction continued on the Wawanosh Home until 1879 when the school was opened in earnest and enrollment increased to 15 students. The government provided funding of $600 per year for the industrial educational of the Wawnosh students. The Wawanosh Home was administered by the Anglican Church and overseen by Shingwauk Home principal Rev. E.F. Wilson.

By the mid-1880s it was decided by Wilson that the Wawanosh Home could be more effectively managed if the girls were located on the same site as the Shingwauk Home. As a result, a girls wing was added onto the Shingwauk Home on Queen Street. In 1900 the Wawanosh Home officially relocated to the Shingwauk site.

The old Wawanosh Home was purchased by the Children's Aid Society of Algoma. The building was operated as a shelter from 1912-1955.

New Shingwauk Indian Residential School

In 1935 the new Shingwauk Hall opened on the Shingwauk site, immediately behind the old building. This new building was designed for 140 students and contained many modern conveniences such as running water and electricity that the old Shingwauk Home did not have. New Shingwauk Hall was designed by Roland Gurney Orr the Chief Architect for the Department of Indian Affairs, the building was built in an industrial style that was replicated in many residential schools and government building across Canada. The Shingwauk School was closed by the Department of Indian Affairs in June 1970. Algoma University College moved onto the Shingwauk site in 1971 and the Shingwauk Hall building is presently the main building of Algoma University.

Until April 1, 1969 all iterations of the Shingwauk Residential School were operated by the Missionary Society of the Church of England. From April 1st to the closure of the Shingwauk School on June 30, 1970 the Government of Canada took over the administration of the church. Despite this transfer of administrative power the land help by the Shingwauk School remained in the hands of the Diocese of Algoma. This was due to a previous agreement that stipulated that the cost of the land or the land itself would be transferred back to the Diocese at the conclusion of use by the Government.

Our Forest Children

A monthly periodical, by the name of Our Forest Children. Edited by Rev. E.F. Wilson, principal of Shingwauk. Was published in the supposed interest of Indian Education and Civilization. Active between 1887 and 1890, they released four volumes of twelve, claiming sixteen to twenty pages each, incrementally to their subscribers.

Boasting themselves as the only illustrated magazine providing detailed information about the Indian tribes of North America, their articles include details of the student's lives in the schools, the missionaries' experiences interacting with the Indians, some details on recruitment practices, as well as the missionary goals and viewpoints. Included are tidbits of grammar and vocabulary, and cultural practices from different tribes, provided within each issue. Scattered throughout are insights into how certain tribes reacted to their mission, and the opinions some individuals held on Residential schooling, and Christianity. All while never losing the intense focus on the Education and Christian Training of young Indians in Boarding Schools and Industrial Homes.

School Chapel

The Bishop Fauiquer Memorial Chapel is the only remaining building from the early years of the Shingwauk School. Construction of the chapel began in 1881 and was completed in 1883. The Chapel is named after Bishop Frederick Dawson Fauquier, the first Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Algoma. During the operation of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School students and staff attended weekly services at the chapel and the building was also used for weddings, funerals, and special occasions.

In 1981 the Chapel was designated as a heritage site under the Ontario Heritage Act by the City of Sault Ste. Marie.

School Cemetery

The Shingwauk Memorial Cemetery contains the graves of over 120 students and staff of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School. Many of these graves are unmarked. During the residential school era staff and church officials received stone headstones but the majority of the students' graves were marked with wooden crosses. As a result of vandalism and the deterioration of wood none of these wooden crosses are left.

The land for the cemetery was donated to the Shingwauk School by William Stratton, the owner of the adjacent farm to the Shingwauk School. The cemetery was consecrated by Bishop Frederick Dawson Fauquier on June 2, 1876. The stone wall which surrounds the older original portion of the cemetery was constructed by the students of the Shingwauk School.

In the mid 1980s the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association and other concerned survivors of the Shingwauk school erected a monument in memory of all who are buried in the cemetery. A list of known individuals buried was created to accompany this monument, copies are held in the Bishop Fauquier Memorial Chapel and the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre at Algoma University.

Life at Shingwauk

At its peak over 150 students were living and attending school at the Shingwauk Indian Residential School. During the Shingwauk Home era, the School was operated on the industrial school model. Students would attend classes for half a day and do manual labor around the school for the other half. The Shingwauk Home was designed as a self-sufficient institution with a fully functioning farm. Much of the work the students engaged in would have related to the day to day operation of the farm and school.

Similar to other residential schools across Canada there were poor living conditions at Shingwauk and the quality of education that many children received was sub-par. Many survivors from Shingwauk have spoken about abuse, neglect, and the long term impacts of the assimilation process that occurred at residential schools. In latter years, many of the residents at the Shingwauk Home lived at the Home but went to school at the nearby elementary and high schools. Anna McCrea Public School and Sir James Dunn Collegiate and Vocational School (operated by the Algoma District School Board) were built on the original Shingwauk site in the 1950s as part of a government led integration process.

Memorials

There are numerous memorials on the Shingwauk Indian Residential School Site, including: