UnBQ Boiler Room

The boiler room and former coal shoot at University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills (UnBQ). This large space continues to house the utilities used to heat this large masonry building. Click on the triangle to load the point cloud.

“Their education must consist not merely of training of the mind, but of a weaning from the habits and feelings of their ancestors, and the acquirements of the language, art and customs of civilized life.” – Egerton Ryerson, 1847 Report for Indian Affairs

Heating, Water and Plumbing

Young students dressed to work, likely either in the boiler room or on the farm that was maintained on the grounds of the school. Between 1959-1966. PR2010.0475 from The Provincial Archives of Alberta, Open Copyright.

The boiler room is one of the areas of UnBQ where function and appearance have changed very little since its operation as a residential school. While there have been technological updates and modernization of the utilities, the boiler room retains much of its original appearance.

Students at the school were often responsible for tasks related to the operation of the school such as laundry, washing dishes, harvesting food from the gardens, serving staff meals, taking care of livestock, and shoveling coal. Children working at these tasks would be assigned them both as daily living chores but also occasionally as punishment.

Water Quality and Quantity

Soon after its construction, chemical analysis of Blue Quills water supply revealed high levels saline/sodium sulfate, which is said to have a laxative effect when consumed. The extreme hardness of the water with high amounts of rust would have been harmful for both human consumption and the plumbing system itself. Despite these safety concerns, government representatives deemed the installation of a water softener to be unnecessary and too expensive.

Fire Hazards and Protective Measures

Students organized by gender and age in front of Blue Quills. between 1938-1949. PR1973.0248/871 from The Provincial Archives of Alberta, Open Copyright.

Many of the risks faced by Indigenous students attending residential schools such as Blue Quills came from the buildings themselves. The architectural plans for Blue Quills which have been constructed using the laser scanning data, illustrate how poorly these schools were designed from a safety perspective. In 1952, a very dangerous fire hazard was identified at Blue Quills following the construction of a new wing of the school which was accessible from two levels. Inspector F.A Ingram advised that the stairwells be enclosed so that they acted as a natural fire break to prevent the spread of fire.

The relatively remote location of Blue Quills required that fire suppression be done on site. Blue Quills had been designed to accommodate 200 students. However, a feasibility study showed that well water productivity was only able to support 100 students. This was inadequate for both fire protection and student use (hygiene and consumption). As a result, water tanks at the school were of a size that was inadequate for extinguishing any fires that might occur. Fire escapes, as seen in the virtual 3D model of UnBQ above, were also documented as being inaccessible to many students. Inspectors report that while fire escapes were accessible to students on the first floor, they were inaccessible to students on the second floor.

Notes:

This page is pending approval from UnBQ IRS Advisory group.

This image includes modern images of the boiler room. If anyone has historic photos of the boiler room at Old Sun that they would like to submit to this archive, please contact us at irsdocumentationproject@gmail.com or submit through "Submit your Memories" button at the top of the page.

UnBQ boiler room, largely unchanged since its time as a residential school. Taken during digital documentation, August 2022. From Madisen Hvidberg.

UnBQ coal shoot, largely unchanged since its time as a residential school when students would have to work here or be locked in for punishment. Taken during digital documentation, August 2022. From Madisen Hvidberg.

Staff or visitors in a granary truck, which would have been used for work around the school grounds as well as for picking up students to bring to the residential school. Date unknown, likely 1950s. PR1973.0248/287 from The Provincial Archives of Alberta, Open Copyright.

Farm buildings on the grounds north of the school building, 1938-1949. Students at the school were made to maintain and work the farm, along with grow vegetables for their own consumption. Milk from the cows on site was a leading cause of tuberculosis at Blue Quills. PR1973.0248/871 from The Provincial Archives of Alberta, Open Copyright.

Students on school farm, between 1959-1966. PR2010.0475 from The Provincial Archives of Alberta, Open Copyright.

Students and staff working on school harvest, between 1959-1966. PR2010.0475 from The Provincial Archives of Alberta, Open Copyright.

John Janvier- I Was Taken Away

Good morning. My name is John Janvier. I’m not a Frenchman, but I have a French name. That’s a way back in history, and I’m from Cold Lake, and I speak Dene.

I went to residential school, I was in Blue Quills for 12 years, and just before that time, I had two little sisters. That was, my little sisters, both of them passed away and just… The year after they passed away, my other siblings were, it was at the end of, or early September, 1st few days in September, a big farm truck came to the churchyard, in my community. They were putting on students that were, that were to go to going to Blue Quills, and my [older] brother and my sister were already going there. So they went to, they were put on the, on the farm truck, and I, losing my little sister’s just a while back, I didn’t know what to do so I cried my head off.

And finally, the principal at that time said to my father, “well, we will take him, and you know, I will try, if he’s okay at the school, we will keep him.”

So, they put me on a truck just to be with my siblings. And then it took us, I don’t know at that time about three hours, to get from Cold Lake churchyard to Blue Quills, about three hours.

By the time the truck left us it was almost evening, and you can imagine us standing at the back of a big farm truck, and it was you know, it was wide open, it was cold. The lucky thing there, was there, was some older students already, some were teenagers, and I we’re just a little boy about six year old. Anyway, they kept us, they took us in their arms, and just to keep us warm, the smaller, smaller of us, was quite a few of us.

Anyway, and we were only a handful of Dene at Blue Quills. The remainder of the student body were all Cree, they used to make fun of our language, because it was such a different language. But anyway, it didn’t, that didn’t really matter.

But anyway, my first experience really was loneliness, because I was taken away from a place where I was loved. All of us, all my siblings were loved very much by our parents and to me they were model parents. But anyway, I missed all that.

– John Janvier

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[watch full testimony]

Notes:

John Janvier Testimony. SC142_part03. Shared at Alberta National Event (ABNE) Sharing Circle. March 28, 2014. National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation holds copyright. https://archives.nctr.ca/SC142_part03