As I sit here finishing up this article, it is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day of commemoration is set aside to recognize the harm the residential school system did to former students, as well as to increase the understanding of the history and legacy of residential schools.
It is one step in a long journey towards truth-telling and meaningful reconciliation.
Today, we are going to go on a long journey to uncover some of that history, not of a residential school though, but of what was known as an “Indian day school,” which existed for a time on the territory once known as Whitefish Lake and now as Atikameksheng Anishnawbek in the southwestern region of the City of Greater Sudbury.
The Indian Day School system was closely linked to the larger residential school system with one important distinction: students were educated in their own communities and returned home to their families at the end of each day. This allowed them some level of connection with their families and communities, which was almost non-existent at a residential school.
However, this also meant that the students faced near-constant cultural conflicts. They had to navigate between their traditional upbringing at home and the assimilationist education (which was of a lesser quality than the public system) that they received at school.
Whitefish Lake Indian Day School was the name of three different school buildings that existed consecutively between Sept. 1, 1880, and June 30, 1951, on the territory of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek.
The collected paperwork correspondence of teachers, the Jesuits who ran the school and the “Indian” Agents who were placed by the government to oversee the area, shows a revolving door of teachers (many disinterested in the task at hand) and bureaucrats pursuing the assimilationist dogma that existed throughout the life of these schools.
In no way does this article endeavour to present the entire history of the school. Instead, I will present to you different snapshots of the school, the teachers and the way of life there, based upon the writings of government officials, teachers and band members.
Government records confirm the existence of the school in the fall of 1880, operated under the auspices of Roman Catholic Jesuit missionaries in the area. The creation of the school also predates the appearance of both the CPR and the village of Sudbury Junction by three years. Written correspondence in regards to the school (found within the historical record) appears only in the latter half of the 1890s, however.
Dilapidated building and a revolving door
In the year 1895, the chief of Whitefish Lake (whose name is difficult to read on the correspondence) wrote to the government superintendent, B.W. Ross, requesting badly needed funds for repairs to their school. “We beg that $35.00 of our funds be granted for the completion of said school house,” he wrote.
A letter by the local agent to the superintendent confirms this request, but also goes farther, as he writes that “I find that it will take some $50 to accomplish the necessary repairs.” He then goes on to describe the rather dilapidated state of the Whitefish Lake school: “The building will require to be entirely re-shingled, as the roof in its present condition admits the rain, and under this circumstance, the upstairs is not habitable for the teacher…”
As a sign of what the requirements of schoolhouse of the 19th century were, on a “Requisition for School Material” from 1898 shows along with the standard scholarly requirements of slates, crayons, ink and pens, plus a necessity for wash basins, pails and an axe.
That same year, the chief and his council wrote a request to the government asking for a raise in the teacher’s salary to $250 per year. Their reasoning was, “this being such an out of the way place $200 a year will hardly keep a person here.” The government responded positively and acquiesced to the request.
Unfortunately, the increased salary was not enough of an incentive to keep teachers at the schoolhouse for long. As the historical documents for the school show, a near constant back and forth between the local authorities and those in Ottawa of teachers being hired and then quitting, year after year.
For instance, in December 1903, Miss Angelique Peltier took on the temporary appointment as teacher of the Whitefish Lake school. She resigned the following month to be replaced by a Mrs. Daniel Bisaillon, who was replaced in May 1904 by Mrs. J.H. MacKay. That makes at least four different teachers for a one-room schoolhouse over the course of a single school year.
By January 1905, the revolving door of teachers continued with the appointment of a Miss Dunn who promised “that nothing but sickness will prevent her from staying a full year here.”
Alas, though she remained beyond a full year, by September 1906, it was reported that “Miss A Dunne has quit teaching the school at Whitefish Lake …”
In 1907, Separate School Inspector Prendergast, on the occasion of a visit to the Whitefish Lake school “reported that he found no pupils present … that no pupils had attended for two weeks previous to the date of his visit (in early May).” The local office at Manitowaning felt that “if no improvement takes place, it will have to consider the question of closing the school.”
Local agent C.D. Sims reported back that the low attendance during the visit was only due to the local children “being nearly all absent with their families in the sugar bush” where they would have been partaking in their own local traditions.
Though he did add that “the attendance at this school at the best of times is not what it should be and is occasioned by the very lax interest taken in education by the parents of the children.”
He continued that, “I would recommend that (they) be given one more chance to keep up the attendance at this school and if they fail to do so that it be closed and the amount it costs to carry on the day school at this place be transferred to an Industrial School … . This would be by far the better way of educating these children as they have to attend regularly when at an Industrial or boarding school.”
However, the school remained open and in July, 1908, a Miss Joannah Kelly was hired at a rate of $300 per year (that’s approximately $9,000 today). While average teacher salaries in Ontario at the time were $538 for men and $308 for women, such a low salary for such an out-of-the-way locale shows the quality of applicants that came this way in the early days of the school.
By September of that year, Miss Kelly had decided to write to the government in order to request an immediate raise in her salary. As she wrote, “the present salary … is much too small for a place like this. The backwardness of the place together with the very high price of every kind of food compels me to ask … to increase the present salary to $400 … .” Though she also touted her average attendance (“20 pupils attending every day”) as a positive in justifying her demand as well.
The department replied in kind that they are “not in a position at present to grant your request” but “should the attendance at the school keep up … it will then be dealt with.” After much back and forth, including a thinly veiled threat to leave by Miss Kelly, she was finally granted an increase to $350 per year.
By June 1909, Miss Kelly was again requesting a $50 increase, to get her salary up to her initial request of $400. This was grudgingly approved, but it still was not enough to keep her at Whitefish Lake and one year later, she had resigned.
From her correspondence, it is clear Miss Kelly didn’t enjoy her experience at the school and perhaps the pupils were better off without her instruction. “My life here is, indeed, miserable. Deprived of all conveniences, and having to depend upon the Indians … with much annoyance and delay … we are obliged to cross water two miles in extent, then a mile of mountainous road to climb over, in order to get to a store, Post Office, or any white family.”
The costs of maintaining the school, which was often in poor condition, and the ongoing trouble of attracting and keeping teachers is evident in the historical record.
In 1912, the Jesuit in charge of the mission that included the school, faced with a government proposal to build a new school and teacher’s residence, attempted instead to persuade the government to shut down the school and have all of the children sent to the Wikwemikong Industrial School (which became the Spanish Industrial/Residential School not long after).
This along with difficulties in securing a teacher led to him sending off his request to the government. One applicant, after receiving what may have been a biased account of conditions (though we will never know) wrote back, “I’m sorry to say that I do not think it best to accept your school. It is so far from a Depot and so inconvenient as regards a boarding place that I do not think I am strong enough for such a place…”
As Reverend Joseph Specht, S.J., wrote on letterhead from St. Ann’s Rectory to the Department of Indian Affairs, in March 1912:
“Now Dear Sir, allow me to make a suggestion. Would it not be more advantageous for the Department and for the children of that Reserve as well, to do what was done in the case of Buzwah, near Manitowaning? The children were sent to the Wikwemikong Industrial School and the salary spent before to keep a teacher applied to keep them at the Institution. I think it is safe to say that time has shown the wisdom of the Department’s action in the matter. Next fall the Wikwemikong Industrial School will be at Spanish Station, it will be easy to send the children there.”
In rejecting the suggestion, the department reminded the reverend that “there are a large number of children of school age on the Whitefish Lake Reserve for whom a day school should be provided and it is considered that when a new building is put up with comfortable quarters for a teacher it will be possible to secure the services of a competent person to take charge.”
Unfortunately, by the following year, it appears that no progress was made on securing a new schoolhouse. As the Reverend Renaud (who obviously had a different opinion than his colleague) wrote in a report to the Department of Indian Affairs: “It is an old building, which must be very cold in the winter and very unhealthy in the spring … . As the school stands at the foot of a hill, it was right in the water last spring, and since then, the kitchen floor looks like this (at this point in his letter, the Reverend drew a curved line to explain his point) … I beg to say, though, that a new school, built in some other place is badly needed.”
As the years go by, it is clear the ongoing issues of maintenance and keeping teachers never really went away.
In 1915, Inspector J.P. Finn criticized the teacher of the time, Mrs J.Jalbert, for her lack of dedication to the task.
“This teacher merely keeps school. Very little success will ever result from her services. She has little heart in her work. The pupils of this school are not taught to talk. It is one of the few schools I have in my inspectorate that have made little progress in the method of teaching English. The teacher has not taken to heart any suggestions for improvement that have been offered, but has steadily pursued her old ways — keeping school only.”
After a few more years remaining open, this schoolhouse, believed to be the original one, burned down on May 15, 1917 and was closed. As per correspondence dated July 1918, a missionary by the last name of Papineau states the government decided it was not important enough to go about building a new schoolhouse during the First World War.
“It was on account of that decision, we (the local Indigenous men) built the school ourselves,” he wrote. “They have worked so hard this winter and this spring (cutting and sawing logs, etc) for their future school.”
Therefore, he wrote to the government requesting to situate their new school within “a chapel” that was in the process of being built at Whitefish Lake, as “we have nearly 30 children of school age.” He also wrote that “the children are all bright” and that no other school could match them “for the number and talent of the pupils.”
The local agent agreed. “I would certainly recommend that the school be reopened as these children will have to receive some education”, and the school went forward.
Trouble with teachers
Working in isolation was certainly challenging for the teachers brought in to do the job. Sometimes, though, those teachers weren’t up to the task and had to be removed. And sometimes, or at least in one instance, the rumour mill was the cause of untimely departures.
In 1922, correspondence can be found in regards to a teacher by the name of Annie Ladouser (spelled that way in the record, possibly correctly spelled “Ladouceur”), who was so disliked by the band that residents refused to send their children to the school.
Ladouser apparently locked herself in the school out of “fear.” There is also an implication within the letters that the teacher did not like that the chief and band elders were using the school building as their meeting house.
Local Agent R.J. Lewis included the following account to his superiors at Manitowaning, in March 1922, along with a copy of a resolution by the chief and band members requesting that the department dispense with the Ladouser’s services at their school.
In reviewing Ladouser’s work, Lewis found it wanting, pointing out since she took charge the students had not progressed in their learning and relaying that parents told him Ladouser was not keeping regular teaching hours.
He concluded she needed to go.
“As there has been contention between Miss Ladouser and the Indians since she took charge of the school, and it has now reached the point where I cannot put up with her any longer, therefore, I would most respectfully recommend that the Department dispense with her services immediately and the school be closed until after the midsummer holidays, or until such time as the services of a qualified teacher can be procured.”
Two months later, in May, the school still had not opened and Lewis was instructed to remove the teacher.
In 1937, a slightly different issue with a teacher reared its head. The teacher at the time, a Mary Kinoshineg, was removed from her position over a question of morality, as detailed by the Indian agent at the time.
“During the last year part, Miss Kinoshagmeg (Kinoshineg) seem to conduct herself in an upright manner, and was a capable teacher, but it would appear that during the summer holidays she had been living with an Indian at Whitefish Lake in an immoral manner,” the agent wrote. “She made absolute denial to me of this accusation by the Indians, stating that it was false, but I know that after the school closed for the summer holidays, she did not return to her home in Wikwemikong.
“She was willing to re-open the school, but the Indians refused to send any of the children to school on account of her misconduct, but on questioning all the Indians regarding her conduct there did not seem to be any of them who would actually swear that she was leading an immoral life … .”
Kinoshineg, still dedicated to the job, responded to her removal with her own letter to the governmental powers that read in part: “When I was all ready to begin my work this year (the Indian Agent) told me I wasn’t going to, for no reason at all that he can call his business. There I was without a school. He just cheated me out of a job … I did my work well and the things that he accuses me of were just what someone who hates me told him. They are very personal and have no connection at all with my teaching.”
In a parallel of some of the stories coming from our present day school system, she also wrote, “I had to buy practically everything for the school. He wouldn’t get me a thing. I had to supply even such things as pencils.”
Time for a new school
In September 1941, it was time once again for a new school for Whitefish Lake. However, though the name would remain the same, its location was to be much different — it was relocated to Lake Penage.
As the local working population were all now employed at the Brunne Co. mill, a distance of approximately 20 miles from Whitefish Lake village and the old school, it was time to bring the educational facilities closer to where they were required.
Of course, besides the fact that, as Agent J.A. Marleau wrote, “the old school is badly in need of repair, in fact, would need a new foundation and joist,” there was the small matter that “there would not be one pupil to attend school there.”
Therefore, after a meeting, it was decided that mill owner Mr. Brunne would furnish the lumber while the locals would supply the labour with the expectation that the school would be completed for Oct. 1, 1941.
In his report the following month, Agent J.A. Marleau wrote “that the new school at Whitefish Lake Reserve is working out very well and the attendance is good. Last week I distributed a quantity of used boots and clothing to the Whitefish Lake members and the women of the band have organized a sewing club for the purpose of remaking and mending the clothes for their children.”
During the 1947-48 school year, the teacher at the Whitefish Lake School was Mrs. Petahtagoose and a government memorandum from a visit of the Superintendent of Education described her as “... a first-class certificate and has had five years' experience. She seems a bright and capable enough teacher and is definitely interested in her pupils. She has a large family herself and at times seems more interested in her family than in the school.
“She has made her classroom attractive and is quite keen to learn of new methods and on the whole would seem to be satisfactory. She lives with her husband in a small house near the school.”
As far as the school was concerned, the one that had been built under the auspices of Mr. Brunne, was described in not so loving terms.
“A temporary structure which is gradually being converted into a permanent one. It has now been covered with insulbrick and is beginning to look attractive. The inside is covered with Ten Test and is in need of a coat of paint in order to help brighten the inside. Mr. Marleau is planning small teacher's quarters and cloak-room for the back of the building. As the structure has no basement or furnace it departs greatly from our standard plan. However, it will serve the needs of these Indians, particularly in view of the fact that the mill has now closed down. Therefore there is a possibility that some of these Indians or all of them may move away.”
Legacy
Government records note that the Whitefish Lake Indian Day School ceased to exist after the 1950-51 school year, and with that came to an end the education system mandated through the Department of Indian Affairs and the archaic Federal Indian Act.
In March of 2019, a settlement of a nationwide Indian Day School Class Action lawsuit Canada was announced. The lawsuit was initiated by Garry McLean of Manitoba who sued the federal government for abusive treatment and loss of culture on behalf of those students left out of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
Day school survivors had been shut out of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement brokered in 2006, even though approximately 200,000 were forced to attend nearly 700 federally operated day schools for more than a century. Unlike residential school survivors, day school students remained in their communities and went home in the evenings, but they suffered similar abuse and still faced cultural assimilation.
I hope that this article has enlightened some to an unknown part of our shared history on this land and maybe piqued curiosity towards delving more deeply into the subject in the future, I know it did for me. Miigwech.
Jason Marcon is a writer and history enthusiast in Greater Sudbury. He runs the Coniston Historical Group and the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page. Then & Now is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.