"The Indian Industrial School" (circled) located at the Riverside location. - Photo Courtesy The Esplanade
On the hillside above Altawana Drive and Parkview Drive, Medicine Hat had its own “Indian residential school”, built between 1890-98. The building was 38-by-40 feet, two storeys high, and constructed partially by H. Yuill. A pamphlet stated it is “substantially built of concrete”, one of the few buildings on the north side of the river, built before Finlay Bridge connected Riverside to downtown.
The residential school was promoted by Reverend Edward Francis Wilson of the Anglican Church. At the time, residential schools were touted as “a sort of duty by the government” and that “the government ought to feel grateful to any church or community which voluntarily comes to its assistance in this most difficult work.”
The citizens of Medicine Hat were excited at the prospect of having a residential school, to be named the Sokitahpe Home, or the Indian Industrial School. Wilson had also opened two other residential schools, in Elkhorn, Man., and Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Certain a school in Medicine Hat would be well received, he bought the land for $700 in 1890 and called for donations from the citizens of Medicine Hat.
Wilson believed the federal government would be pleased at the prospect of a purpose-built residential school and so fundraising and construction commenced almost immediately.
Wilson wrote numerous papers and books about his work opening residential schools and financing them as “it is a great responsibility for one man to have to raise this large amount and to keep all this extensive work in operation. I have felt forced to complain sometimes that this work of mine […] has been looked upon too much as a personal hobby of my own, rather than as work meriting the sympathy and support of the church and community at large.”
The citizens of Medicine Hat rallied and donated large amounts to have the school built, even before federal funding was secured. Wilson and his brother oversaw construction of the building which was “to include a porch, hall, superintendent’s sitting room and office, dining room, kitchen and pantry […] the next level would be a sick room, room for linens, and the main school rooms which would also serve as dormitories until a secondary wing, separate for boys and girls was built.”
The secondary wing would never be completed, as the federal government announced it would not fund the residential school in Medicine Hat.
The announcement shocked and dismayed the citizens and Wilson. Eventually the land was sold for $11,000 in 1906, and the building was dismantled. The lumber was re-used to build a small building behind St. Barnabas Church, serving as a meeting hall and caretaker residence into the 1980s. That building was still called “The Indian School” perhaps due to the re-use of materials from Wilson’s failed project. The school never was used for its intended purpose, a case of history as it almost was, and hopefully will never be again.
Malcolm Sissons is a former member of the City’s Heritage Resources Committee. Research and drafting of this article was provided by Jenni Barrientos of the Esplanade Archives.
