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“It has been strongly impressed upon myself, as head of the Department, that Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will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

Polly Yellow Fly- He Just Dragged Us

Before I started school there was a man that came to our house. I had no idea what was happening, but we hid under the bed. Um, he was like to us… he was like a total stranger, and we didn’t know who he was. He just grabbed us from under the bed. My parents told us that we were going to school and… ah.

We started screaming and he just dragged us from underneath the bed, and he put us in a like a wagon like, like in the back of a wagon. And from there I didn’t see my sister again, my older sister.

And our parents told us that if we didn’t go with him, they would they would go to jail.

– Polly Yellow Fly

Notes:

Oral interview with Polly Yellow Fly. Conducted, translated, and transcribed by Angeline Ayoungman. Old Sun Community College, June 24, 2022.