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“It has been strongly impressed upon myself, as head of the Department, that Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence, and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will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

The other time is I had a real bad toothache, on my left I mean on my right side and it was really swollen and they didn’t do anything about it. I went home for the weekend. I came back I was in a lot of pain. When I got back, I was telling the supervisor that my mouth was really sore and they checked it and that day they sent me to that dentist in Crowfoot School. I still remember that dentist, I could still picture him. How he looked, he was tall, he had a bald head, he had rims, round rims and he was tall, he had a white, you know, his white jacket that he wore. And there is another one in there, he was dressed like that, he was really small, kinda small and black hair. They were both white guys.

When they were checking my teeth, here I had an abscess, it was really bad. He just went ahead and pulled it out. He didn’t even freeze it, he just started pulling it out. I remember, I was just screaming, I was just crying, and I was telling him to quit because it really hurt. He just told me to shut up, and the same time he started pulling, you know really pulling. I could just feel it coming out and could just feel, hear those… I don’t know what they were. I could just hear them, when they were pulling it out, and I started screaming again. And I got his hand away from my mouth and he just hit me on my arm and told me, “you be quiet, you’re ok, there’s nothing wrong with you.” And that other guy was just standing there, watching what he was doing.

Finally, I remember that time I kind of, I don’t know… in those days I didn’t know what or how to explain it, but now it just felt like I almost blacked out because of the pain and what I heard. My mouth was just bleeding that time, and all they did was just gave me those white gauze and put them in my mouth. And I got sent back. And I was, oh, I was in pain all that week. Now, you know, I should be scared of dentists but I’m not. I’m not scared of them.

And my dentist was looking at my teeth that time, and she told me she wanted to put a partial where that was. She said, “it’s a big gap. It’s really deep and we’ll try and put those partials in here.” When I went back, she told me, “it can’t be done,” and I told her”Why?” And she said, “well something happened. I don’t know, but I don’t. Why we can’t do that, something happened. That big gap between your back teeth and your… umm it seems like you went through a trauma.” My teeth. And that’s when I shared the story with her, but she didn’t know anything about residential school, so I explained it to her. I told her what happened that’s when she told me,”you know when somebody has an abscess, you’re supposed to wait for the swelling to go down, you’re supposed to wait. And then after that they freeze it and they’ll take it out.” I think she was horrified what that dentist did. So, he really, I don’t know, he really did something to my teeth.

– Celeste Bull Bear (Bear Chief)

[read more]

[read previous]

Notes:

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