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.

Vivian Rose Brass- The Road Home

Oki [hello] my name is Vivian Rose Brass, I am from Siksika Nation. I would like to talk about when I was about seven years old I went to residential, at Old Sun Indian Residential School. I would like to picture myself… for me I was, for me I was way too young to be taken away from my family. I always remember this black car that always came to the house on Sunday, that would take me back. Well anyway, I was still a young child. I know I was so happy I had my munchies, but I just I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t drink my pop, my chips, my chocolate bar. They had to go in our box so I would just sit there and then we would have supper. But the loneliness was inside of me.

I remember we’d go downstairs in the playroom, I’d sit there, and we had our own, like, these boxes and benches they had lids and we have stuff like cut out paper dolls and stuff like that, toys whatever we had. This was the first, it happened three times. I always had a hiding spot, it was under the stairs, the basement stairs going up. I’d hide in that little, like a little hiding spot. I’d wait for all the footsteps that go upstairs. It was time for bedtime. As soon as I hear the end, I just run to that door in the playroom, and I just run.

Those lights made my way home. I’m not sure if it was the first, second or third time I ran away, it was gravel road and it was cold. It was along the gravel road I was running. I didn’t know where I had the energy, but it was dark. And there was an old windmill, I don’t know if it still there. No, it is not there anymore. There was an old lady, she was in the ditch calling me. In our language, the Blackfoot language, she told me to go over to her, “come here” and that I looked tired.

“I was tired”, so she told me to put my head on her lap and she covered… I don’t know what she covered me up with. But anyway she woke me up that morning and told me it was time to go. It is light now, the sun was up and I sat. There was nobody, so I got up and I started running again. You could hear vehicles cause it is gravel. There were two grainery, old grainery bins in the field. In the field I ran towards them, and I hid there till this… and here it was my great uncle, grandpa Russel Wright. He just told me in Blackfoot “come here”. So I went with him, they just live down in the valley of Chicago. He put me beside the fire with a blanket and he gave me some tea and bannock. Later on he brought me back, he brought me home to my mom and dad. As soon as we got there, I was brought back.

It was a black car that picked me up. I vaguely remember the guy’s name but they said if I didn’t go back that they would send me to a foster home. I just didn’t want to go back. So being reassured with my dad, he brought me back, he was wondering why I ran away. It was always the same thing, I always had that idea. When I get back I would sit on my bed. They put me closer to the door beside the room mother, Miss Currie. And my dad would talk to her. They would watch me but sometimes during the night I would get up, but I know there is bathroom, but I look out the window. I can’t sneak out the fire escape. But I just sit there and all I just remember is a red light, its an exit light or something. I’ve done… that I’ve hid in that spot under the stairs, because that was my hideaway and that door was my exit and the power plant was the light, it was my light. The road to back home.

Being that young and to remember all that… there should have never been a residential. Going to school in Bassano waking up early, I just felt like a lost kid. “You have to do this,” “you have to do that.” And today, to this day sometimes I teach my grandkids you are lucky residentials are closed. Cause back then it wasn’t as easy as today. I grew up lonely, missing mom, dad, my family, my siblings. Why?

When I think about it today it kind of makes me feel stronger. I don’t know the old lady that kept me warm, but I know there is somebody out there, people out there that take care of you. Must be the nice old lady, maybe she’s watching over me to this day. That was just my… and when I do go to the Old Sun School, I think back. I see those stairs and I just laugh about it and I just tell my kids, that’s where I used to hide and that’s the door I ran out. They never knew. But I thank the lord today that I am still here, and I don’t know what good.. if it was worth it, going to residential.

– Vivian Rose Brass