Old Sun Annex

The Annex at Old Sun Community College. This Area of the School Presently Contains Various Administrative Offices. It Originally Served as the Priest’s Primary Residence During the Time that Old Sun Functioned as an Indian Residential School.

“It has been strongly impressed upon myself, as head of the Department, that Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will acquire the habits and modes of thought of white men.” – Sir John A. MacDonald, 1879

The Minister’s Quarter’s

Cropped photo of the exterior, showing a car parked in front of the annex at Old Sun. 1930s. NA-2966-4. Courtesy of the Glenbow Archives.

The annex at Old Sun Community College is currently used as a meeting space for staff. The main floor has a private office, an office with board room, and a small kitchen area. Upstairs, there are three offices, a bathroom, and an additional room. The annex’s half basement is used for storage.

When Old Sun operated as a residential school, the annex served as accommodation for the minister, who was also principal of the school, and his family. The kitchen and boardroom functioned as a private kitchen and formal dining area where the minister could entertain guests. The rooms upstairs served as bedrooms. Students at the school were not generally allowed access to the annex, except when brought there specifically by the minister.

For the creation of this archive, many of the survivors returned to Old Sun to share their memories, and were interviewed in the boardroom which used to be the dining room for these quarters. For many survivors, it takes great strength and resilience to return to the school and revisit their memories.

Use the arrow keys (left, right, up, down) or left click and drag your mouse around the screen to view different areas of each room. If you have a touch screen, simply drag your finger across the screen.

This gallery contains modern day and archival images of the annex of Old Sun. If you have photos of the annex that you would like to submit to this archive, please contact us at irsdocumentationproject@gmail.com.

Leica BLK scanning under the stairs to the basement of the annex during digital documentation of Old Sun. August 2020. Photo source: Madisen Hvidberg.

Old Sun School, annex to the right with separate entrance visible. [193-?]. P75-103-S7-188 from the General Synod Archives, Anglican Church of Canada.

Boardroom office of the Siksika Studies department at Old Sun Community College, formerly the dining room of the minister's quarters. Photo from digital capture of Old Sun, August 2020.

Upstairs office in the annex of Old Sun, formerly a bedroom for the minister's quarters. Photo from digital capture of Old Sun, August 2020.

Entrance to the annex of Old Sun. Photo from digital capture of Old Sun, August 2020.

Old Sun School, this brick building was opened in 1929. 1930s. NA-2966-4. Courtesy of the Glenbow Archives.

Rev. Robert Crocker and family, who would have been living in the annex. 1955. NA-4817-50. Courtesy of Glenbow Archives .

Old Sun School, annex to the right.[193-?] P7538-1022 from the General Synod Archives, Anglican Church of Canada

Rev. Cole and Frazer with hens. Cole would have been living in the annex (on the left side of Old Sun) and Mr. Fraser in the maintenance house. June 1950. P7538-998 from the General Synod Archives, Anglican Church of Canada.

Celeste Bull Bear- The Girl I was Scared of

The incident where it happened was Old Sun Residential School. Well, the dorms, the junior girl’s dorm. Well, I don’t know how old I was when I started, when I attended the residential school. I know I was about 8, 8 years old when I went to residential school. Yeah, I was 8 years old and well, I, you know… like I didn’t really get, you know like, abused or anything like that. But I did get it from my friends or the other girls that attended residential school.

I was, you know, like, that’s where I got it from. And I remember that one time, when one of the girls were playing jacks. and I was playing with her, that girl, and I don’t know what happened. The ball rolled away and I went to get it and I sat back down. And I don’t know, she just started crying that girl, and that’s when her sister came. Her sister came, and she was telling me “what happened to her? What did you do to her?” I told her, “I didn’t do anything to her, she just started crying.”

I was going to pick them up, so I was on my knees picking up the jacks. And she just kicked me, right in the forehead. With her, she had, I still remember she had white shoes on and they were really pointy and she just kicked me in the forehead. And I didn’t want to cry because it hurt so bad because she kicked me really hard. And I was touching my forehead it was kind of like it was dented. And so that part that happened to me.

The other part was the same one, it was always the same one that abused me. The other time was in the girl’s bathroom, she was pushing my head, like banging my head against the wall. That person was telling me that I was — at that time I didn’t know what that word meant– but she was telling me that I was a bastard and that my dad wasn’t Walker Bear Chief. She was just punching me like in the stomach and just pushing, throwing me against the wall.

I didn’t know, I didn’t even know, there was these two girls that came in. They were going to use the bathroom. They helped me, they pushed her away and that’s was how I got free from her. And I was really scared and I’ve been really scared of that girl for… even to this day, when I see her, I’m scared of her. Even though I’m grown up, you know, I could fight back if she was ever to do that again but that’s how I felt. I was really scared of her. And there was times where, you know, she starts to call names. She always called me names and they were were really, you know, like swear words she used on me. I remember, and some of those words.I was still young, I didn’t really know them, what they meant, but at that time I just knew they weren’t good; you know good names. And that’s about all I can remember.

– Celeste Bull Bear (Bear Chief)

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Notes:

Oral interview with Celeste Bull Bear (Bear Chief). Conducted, translated, and transcribed by Gwendora Bear Chief. Old Sun Community College, March 28, 2022.