Shingwauk Indian Residential School

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.[1] This day school was attended by children from Garden River First Nation and was funded by the government and the Anglican Church.[2] A second day mission school was later established in the Garden River community in 1870.[1]

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.[3] The school opened with sixteen boys enrolled as students. Six days after opening, the school was completely destroyed by fire.[4]

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.[5] The new school officially opened on August 2, 1875 to 50 students.[4] The school did not have running water or electricity. This building was replaced by the New Shingwauk Hall in 1935.

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 Tarentorus. 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.[6]

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. Now the site is home to the Sault Ste. Marie Legion Hall, branch 25 [7]

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. Many of Orr's buildings, including Shingwauk Hall were designed in the Collegiate Gothic style.[8] The architecture of the Shingwauk building is almost identical to other residential schools across Canada - including the Indian Residential School in Edmonton, Alberta, the Kamloops Residential School, and the St. Paul's Indian Residential School - all built in the 1920s based on Orr's plans.[9]

The Shingwauk School was closed by the Department of Indian Affairs in June 1970.[10] Algoma University College moved onto the Shingwauk site in 1971 and the Shingwauk Hall building is presently the main building of Algoma University.[11] Until April 1, 1969 all iterations of the Shingwauk Residential School were operated by the Missionary Society of the Church of England. From April 1 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.[12]

A monthly periodical, by the name of Our Forest Children. Edited by Rev. E.F. Wilson, principal of Shingwauk was published out a printmaking shop on the site of the Shingwauk Home. Students at the Shingwauk Home would have worked at the printmaking shop as part of their manual or industrial school labor.[4] Our Forest Children was published in the supposed interest of Indian Education and Civilization. Active between 1887 and 1907, the publication was published monthly, claiming sixteen to twenty pages each. The paper sold for 10 cents a year and had a self-reported circulation of 2,000 subscribers.[19]

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.[20]

This paper was established as the first diocesan newspaper in the Algoma region by Rev. Wilson in 1874. It underwent substantial name changes through the years and was known as the Algoma Quarterly, the Algoma Missionary News and Shingwauk Journal, the Algoma Missionary News. In 1956 the publication was replaced by Algoma Anglican.[21] The publication and editorship of the publication was transferred to the Anglican Diocese of Algoma following the departure of E.F. Wilson from the Shingwauk Home. A complete set of back issues of the Algoma Missionary News and the Algoma Anglican are housed in the Anglican Diocese of Algoma Archives at Algoma University.[22]

The first issue of The Peace Pipe was published on October 1, 1878. The tagline of the paper was "an Ojibway newspaper published monthly at the Shingwauk Home". Subscriptions were available for 35 cents a year.[23] The paper had an eight page form and aimed to start with 300 subscribers. It hoped to cover topics in both English and Ojibway and include translations of bible verses, hymns, and extracts from Ojibway grammar books. This publication served as a supplement to the Algoma Missionary News.[24]