Kamloops residential school

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The Kamloops Indian Residential School was a residential school part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Located in Kamloops, British Columbia, it was once the largest residential school in Canada, with its enrolment peaking at 500 in the 1950s. The school was established in 1890 and operated until 1969, when it was taken over from the Catholic Church by the federal government to be used as a day school residence. It closed in 1978. The school building still stands today, and is located on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. In 2021, Sarah Beaulieu, an anthropologist at the University of the Fraser Valley, surveyed the apple orchard on the grounds with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and concluded it probably had some 200 unmarked graves, but noted that "only forensic investigation with excavation" could confirm the presence of human remains. As of May 2022, decision-making was in progress on whether to investigate the site or to leave it undisturbed. In 2024 the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc band announced that their investigation was proceeding but would remain confidential to preserve its integrity. On 30 May, 2026, The Globe and Mail reported that in the five years of...

What would become the Kamloops Indian Residential School was established in 1893, after initially opening on May 19, 1890, as the Kamloops Industrial School. The school was established as part of government policy of forced assimilation of Indigenous children. J.D. Ross of Kamloops was awarded the $10,000 contract to erect the initial set of industrial school buildings in April 1889. The first three two-story wooden structures had with separate living quarters for boys and girls and teachers, along with classrooms and a recreation area.

After first principal Michel Hagan resigned in 1892, the government put the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in charge of the school. Father Alphonse-Marie Carion was named principal of the school in March 1893. In his 1896 annual report to the Department of Indian Affairs, Carion emphasized that the moral and religious training of students at the school was "the most important of all" and that school officials kept "constantly before their mind the object which the Government has in view in carrying on the industrial-schools, which is to civilize the Indians, to make them good, useful and lawabiding members of society." He remained principal of the school until 1916.

In 1927, John Duplanil succeeded James Mcguire as principal of the school, following Maguire's (McGuire's) appointment as curate of St. Patrick's Church in Lethbridge, Alberta. James Fergus O'Grady was named principal in 1939, following the departure of T. Kennedy. G. P. Dunlop took over as head of the school in 1958, relocating from a position at the Eugene Mission Indian School in Cranbrook, British Columbia.

The school, located on the traditional territory of the Secwepemc (Secwépemcúl'ecw), continued to operate until 1978. The school was taken over by the federal government in 1969. During this time it operated as a residence for students attending other area schools until it permanently closed.

The school was featured in the 1962 Christmas-themed film Eyes of the Children. Produced by George Robertson, the film followed 400 students as they prepared for Christmas and aired on the CBC on Christmas Day. Gerald Mathieu Moran worked there while the documentary was filmed. A boy's supervisor, he was charged in the 1990s with several dozen sex crimes committed at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. He pled guilty and spent three years in jail. A former student told a TRC hearing that another instructor would come into the girls' dorm at night with a flashlight and choose a girl to assault.

In the 1988 book Resistance and renewal: surviving the Indian residential school, Celia Haig-Brown argued that the school system had failed due to the resistance of the Shuswap ( Secwepemc ) people, since they still existed as a nation:

"Although its effects have been devastating for individuals, the Kamloops Indian Residential School was not successful in its attempts to assimilate the Native people of the Central Interior of the province."

In 1991, a special edition of Secwepemc News offered a different perspective, reporting that the public policy which led to the 80-year operation of the school had "done its job; English is now the predominant language within the Shuswap Nation and the survival of the Shuswap language is uncertain."

In 1982, the building opened for use as the first location of the Secwepemc Museum.

Hundreds of children attended the school, many forcibly removed from their homes following the introduction of mandatory attendance laws in the 1920s. The children who attended were not allowed to speak their native languages and were whipped for using them. In addition to Secwépemc children, students from communities across British Columbia attended the school, including Penticton, Hope, Mount Currie, and Lillooet, along with students from other provinces.

At one point, this was the largest Canadian residential school. Canadian politician Leonard Marchand ( Okanagan Indian Band ) attended the school. So did George Manuel (Secwépemc Nation), who said his three strongest memories of the school were: "hunger; speaking English; and being called a heathen because of my grandfather." In 1910, the principal said that the government did not provide enough money to properly feed the students.

On December 24, 1924, the girls' wing of the school was destroyed by a fire, forcing 40 students into −10 °C (14 °F) weather in only their night clothes. Three years later, in 1927, a report outlining the conditions at the school concluded that the poor construction of buildings at the school led to "numerous infections, colds, bronchitis, and pneumonia" during the previous winter. During the 1957–1958 influenza pandemic, the Kamloops district health officer, D. M. Black, reported that half of the students at the school had been ill. At the time, health officials from the University of British Columbia acknowledged the infection rate was "slightly more than normal but not a serious worry."

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada determined that the residential schools were a system of " cultural genocide ". It concluded that at least 4,100 students died while attending the schools, many of them due to abuse, negligence, disease, and accidents. The report concluded that it would be impossible to estimate the total number of deaths that occurred at the schools.

Students at the school received harsh treatment, including being hit with a shillelagh or being shamed for minor mistakes.

The school operated a girls' folk dancing program beginning in the 1940s that focused only on European dance styles. Sister Mary Leonita initially taught Irish dancing, and later, other European folk styles including Swiss and Ukrainian dancing. Children in the program were prohibited from learning indigenous dances.

Dancers from the program were featured at the 1960 Pacific National Exhibition. In July 1964, girls from the school went to Mexico and performed in a series of festivals. Canadian embassy officials called them the "finest ambassadors ever to come from Canada". The Knights of Columbus raised the funds for the trip. The same year, group leader Sister Mary Leonita transferred away from the school, and the dance program ended.

Hundreds of children attended the school, many forcibly removed from their homes following the introduction of mandatory attendance laws in the 1920s. The children who attended were not allowed to speak their native languages and were whipped for using them. In addition to Secwépemc children, students from communities across British Columbia attended the school, including Penticton, Hope, Mount Currie, and Lillooet, along with students from other provinces.

At one point, this was the largest Canadian residential school. Canadian politician Leonard Marchand ( Okanagan Indian Band ) attended the school. So did George Manuel (Secwépemc Nation), who said his three strongest memories of the school were: "hunger; speaking English; and being called a heathen because of my grandfather." In 1910, the principal said that the government did not provide enough money to properly feed the students.

On December 24, 1924, the girls' wing of the school was destroyed by a fire, forcing 40 students into −10 °C (14 °F) weather in only their night clothes. Three years later, in 1927, a report outlining the conditions at the school concluded that the poor construction of buildings at the school led to "numerous infections, colds, bronchitis, and pneumonia" during the previous winter. During the 1957–1958 influenza pandemic, the Kamloops district health officer, D. M. Black, reported that half of the students at the school had been ill. At the time, health officials from the University of British Columbia acknowledged the infection rate was "slightly more than normal but not a serious worry."