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“It has been strongly impressed upon myself, as head of the Department, that Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will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.

Donna Axe Running Rabbit- Finally I Got Fed Up

On the second floor, that was our room. That was juniors, that was junior girls. I slept on top, we had bunk beds, and my late sister Jenny slept on the bottom. I would whisper to my sister when we go to bed, “go use the bathroom” so that way she would not get strapped, so she does go. But, I don’t know, other times she forgets to go use it and she would pee in bed. I would wake up during the night to hear areal hard slap from that Mrs. Maguire to Jenny. I would jump off the bunk bed and I would grab Jenny as she was crying loudly, and again I would tell Annie Maguire that I would tell my mother. She would just look at me. There was a lot of abuse in there, hitting. But I never witnessed anything about sexual abuse or anything like that.

There was one in there, one supervisor her name was Miss Nash. I remember her she was a big lady beautiful lady; she was very kind to us. She was from BC, I think she was from BC. She would tell us about Annie, that she was a mean person and all. And that she would be right in there with Mr. Brown and then we would tell Mrs. Nash, “how come she is doing that why, why does she have to listen?”

She said, “that white lady, we try and talk to her to say not to listen to Mr. Brown, but Mr. Brown must tell her what to do. To do this and that to the students” and its always Annie.. it’s always Annie. I was not scared of her at that time [laughs]. But I was scared for the rest and finally I got fed up, I think when I was nine years old. I started to run away from here. A friend of mine, her name was Daphne Black Horse… I would run away from here with her. Daphne was scared of them because Annie would be yelling our names very loud and she would be using the F word, that “we should f***ing get back here to the boarding school!” Then we come back, and we would get strapped and again we would get hit on the head with her knuckles, pulling our hair, and our ears… pulling our ears, holding our ears right up to the room.

And another thing about at that time me and Daphne, we never, never ever got Christmas gifts. Never ever, till it closed because it was always Annie. That’s all I can remember…

– Donna Axe Running Rabbit

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