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“It has been strongly impressed upon myself, as head of the Department, that Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will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

Mandel Old Woman- It’s Worse than Being in Jail

And another time, I ran away, this was during a blizzard that was the same time, it was a blizzard. I was the only one running away, hey. And I decided to run away. The same thing, very lonely, and the things that I go through, and all the things that like, like it was very… its worse than being in jail, this residential school. And its not, its I say its… You can’t, you can’t… you have to be follow their rules, and you know every little thing you do. Like you can’t even speak your own language. You get hit every so often. You get hit or you get strapped or get pulled by the ear or get knocked on the head. So, and…

Like we go to bed about, about, I say about 5, 5 o’clock in the evening and these things we were only about four or five years old so these things you know, it was very, you know I can’t… very, miserable out there. Some things that went through there… and at the age of four, I was, at the age of four I was doing cleaning. You know doing, doing the cleaning up at the age of four, you know. Like using, using a toothbrush to wipe the steps and gee there was a lot of, you know. At my age of 4 years old, what are you doing using the grooves to, you know, scrub the floors and you know and that was, for a four year old… for a four year old doing that, and mopping and scrubbing the floors and polishing the floors with a machine. You know at four years you’re not supposed be doing that.

And you eat the same old food, out there, you know, you get tired of. And you wear the same clothes, the same clothes over and over. And yeah, it was very miserable out there. And you can’t speak your own language, you lost your language and that’s how I don’t know my language to this day. Umm not my language, my culture I should say yeah. I lost my culture. I don’t even know my culture to this day. I’m at the age of 63 years old now. I just know, just know a few things about my culture now, and now I have to relearn to speak English.

And it was very hard and when we were in the chapel we, umm, when we were, when we go chapel it goes on for hours and hours. I don’t know how long, how long it goes on and we’re sitting there praying we have to get on, on our and our knees for about I say about… I don’t know, an hour two hours and our knees would be… I don’t know, be gee be very, umm, its very sore our knees. And we do fall asleep, and we get slapped on the head. And you know, so we have to keep, keep awake and you know and by the time we’re tired so… I don’t know we get, we get umm.. we get how do we say… We get like, umm like, we get we get punished for that you know. You know so that was one of the things too.

-Mandel Old Woman

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