Old Sun Community College Third Floor

The Third Floor of Old Sun Community College (OSCC). Click on the triangle to load the point cloud. Labels on the point cloud indicate past room functions during Old Sun’s time as a residential school. Important rooms on this floor include the junior boys and girls dormitories and the boys and girls Infirmary.

“When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with its parents, who are savages, and though he may learn to read and write, his habits and training mode of thought are Indian. He is simply a savage who has learned to read and write.” – Sir John A. MacDonald, 1879

Bedtime prayers in the girls’ dormitory, Old Sun School. 1955-1957. NA-4817-22. Courtesy of Glenbow Archives.

Residences for both staff and students were located on the third floor during the years Old Sun operated as a residential school. An infirmary and nursing station was also situated here. The junior boys’ dormitories could be found on the south side and the girls on the north. Students between the ages of 4 and 13 stayed in the school’s junior residences. The number of beds in these dorms likely changed through the years, but to accommodate the maximum capacity of 142 students in the 1960s the dorms would have had around 30 beds (see the section “Overcrowding” below).

There was a small sink and a bathroom attached to each dormitory, and a series of storage cupboards were placed along the walls adjacent to the doorway. Upon arriving at the school, children were stripped of their personal belongings and assigned a number with corresponding school uniform. The clothing worn by the children to the school would be bundled up and stored in the wall cupboards until the children returned home.

Old Sun School, Gleichen, Alberta – Hospital room and “Mumps” cases. – 1944. P7538-1007 from the General Synod Archives, Anglican Church of Canada.

The dormitories on either end of this floor have since been divided into two classrooms. During Old Sun’s time as a residential school, however, they would have each been one single large room. Adjacent to each dormitory was a bedroom for a staff member. These bedrooms had a window that looked upon the dormitory so that staff could monitor the behavior of students. Rooms located further down the hallway were used as staff quarters along with the dispensary/infirmary (see point cloud and VR tour). If students were sick, they were kept isolated in the infirmary – sometimes for as long as several months.
Today, the rooms on this floor are used for teaching classrooms for the college, staff offices, and the staff room.

Notes:
The content of this page is pending approval by Old Sun Community College.

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. Your keyboard's arrow keys can also be used. Travel to different areas of the third floor by clicking on the floating arrows.

This image gallery shows historic and modern photos of Old Sun College's third floor. Click on photos to expand and read their captions. If you have photos of the third floor at Old Sun that you would like to submit to this archive, please contact us at irsdocumentationproject@gmail.com.

Jr. Girls' Dormitory during the filming of a documentary, with the addition of window coverings and nicer quilts on the beds. Old Sun IRS, 1952. Photo Source: Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, Algoma University

Girls praying on their beds - 1952. P8471-11 from The General Synod Archives, Anglican Church of Canada

Set up of survey network during the digital documentation of Old Sun Community College in August 2020. Photo Source: Madisen Hvidberg.

The west side of the Junior Girl's dormitory, now a science classroom. Photo Source: Madisen Hvidberg.

The east side of the Junior Girls' dormitory, now a classroom. Photo Source: Madisen Hvidberg.

Staff sitting area, previously used as the infirmary for Old Sun IRS. Photo Source: Madisen Hvidberg.

The east side of the Junior Boys' dormitory, now a classroom. Photo Source: Madisen Hvidberg.

Jr. Boys' Dormitory during the filming of a documentary, with the addition of nicer quilts on the beds. Old Sun IRS, 1952. Photo Source: Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, Algoma University

Sewing class on the third floor of Old Sun IRS, 1950-1966. Photo Source: Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, Algoma University.

Jr. Boys' Dormitory during the filming of a documentary, with the addition of window coverings and nicer quilts on the beds. Old Sun IRS, 1952. Photo Source: Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, Algoma University

Junior boys resting - [193-?]. P75-103-S7-167. The General Synod Archives, Anglican Church of Canada

Junior boys' dormitory, Old Sun School. Children saying bedtime prayers. 1955-1957. NA-4817-24. Courtesy of Glenbow Archives .

Bed time for junior boys, Old Sun School. 1955-1957. NA-4817-25. Courtesy of Glenbow Archives .

Laser scanning data can be used to create “as built” architectural plans which can support repair and restoration work to Old Sun Community College. This plan was created using Autodesk Revit and forms part of a larger building information model (BIM) of the school. The Revit drawings and laser scanning data for this school are securely archived with access controlled by the Old Sun Advisory Committee.

Some of the threats faced by Indigenous students attending residential schools came from the buildings themselves. The architectural plans contained in this archive, which have been constructed using the laser scanning data, illustrate how poorly these schools were designed from a safety perspective. There were three specific areas that placed the health and safety of students at great risk: Fire Hazards and Protection Measures; Water Quality, and Sanitation and Hygiene. As you explore the archive, you will find more information about the nature of these hazards and their impact on students.

Eileen Black- She Never Quit Drinking in Her Life

And so there was door leading to the outside, oh, and so there’s a main door. There’s a main door and all of the kids were chased outside at recess in the middle of winter, we have to go outside. And that time they issued those leather boots and brown stockings and we used to wear skirts. That’s what we used to wear, and they weren’t even warm, the jackets we wore. I don’t even remember what kind of jacket we used to wear, all I remember was the intense cold going into that, that playground. Ya [expression] we were so cold, shivering. We cant even talk because we were shivering so bad. We would hurry to open the door and ah ‘cause they would lock the door. We couldn’t even go back in because they locked the door.

And the older ones, all I remember was my older sister Kaamihtaki and I don’t know if Pakitsuaki was part of that… but I remember Veronica, Amatsikamoosaki. I remember her and they were, I can picture them, standing around in a circle around, those big girls, they were surrounding around the younger girls. They were trying to keep us warm.

You know, I used to think I wonder if Matsikamoosaki… sometimes I don’t remember a lot, but every once in awhile, I think of it and think of asking even Rachel, “do you still remember residential school?” But even my sisters… but this is their story. They would talk about what they went through in residential school and how they treated badly. I used to think I was treated bad, but listening to them they were treated way worse by the supervisors, by the workers here and of course the students. They were treated bad. I despise that priest Mr. Cole, I hope none of his pictures are in this building Mr. Cole, because my sister, she has passed away, he sexually abused my sister, that Mr. Cole. And now I understand how, how… why she was the way she was. Why she never quit drinking in her life but she also never dealt with this like I did.

So, the stories that are going to be coming out is what’s going to also help our people to heal themselves and not to feel ashamed. I know some are ashamed cause that is what happened to me… because of what I experienced, what I experienced in residential school, and you hate it and feel ashamed. You don’t want to talk about because of that shame but now we have to put away that shame and I am finding out that when you talk openly about it, people are listening, and they don’t judge you for it but they believe what was happening. So I know my sisters and its too bad they have passed away and they probably would have had a lot of stories to say. So, I’m glad I’m contributing to whatever I can.

– Isitsimani, Eileen Black

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