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.

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.

Margaret Cardinal- I Was Number 40

I’m originally from Saddle Lake, I went to boarding school for about 10 years, I went to Blue Quills, I started in late ‘59 to 1969. My parents are also went to the same school, my mother, she was there from the age of three till she was 16, until she was married off to my father.

My father was also there, my mother actually only had grade three, all those years she was there she spent cooking, sewing for the nuns and working, and not being able to go to school. I didn’t realize till I was about five years, in grade five, that she didn’t know how to write, because I wrote to her when I was in Charles Camsell hospital, and she wrote back and I didn’t really, I couldn’t believe that her writing was lower than my writing. I had to ask her “why?” and she said, “that’s because I spend most of my time doing work, rather than being educated.”

And my father spent all his school in the barn, and the reason, what I say, I mean by the barn, is that when he entered school, he had 90 percent hearing loss as a result of a childhood illness. So naturally, they thought he was [disabled] and uneducated, uneducational… so he spent all his boarding school life, managing cows, horses, and the animals and the farm.

When I entered boarding school, my first day if I can describe it would be, being gathered at a Sunday at the local church and being put into a granary truck. I had never seen a granary truck before. Because we didn’t have school buses then, they hauled us away in this granary truck to Blue Quills.

When we got to Blue Quills, we were herded into this cave, I’d never seen such a huge cave, I didn’t know at the time that it was a gym. It had big windows on the top but none that you could look out, it was very scary.

They um, they sorted us by size and gender, and I was the smallest. I was number 40. I was number 40 all those 10 years. I wasn’t just, you know, it wasn’t. I think that only on formal occasions that I get called my Christian name. I didn’t even know my name was Margaret Cardinal, until, when they started registering us, my cousin had to tell me that my name was Margaret Cardinal. I refused to believe her because I only spoke Cree and I kept insisting know what my name was but my cousin she said, “You better start learning your name because otherwise you’re gonna pay.”

Like any boarding school, they cut our long hair, because in my family when you have long hair, it means you have a good life. And the only time we cut our hair is when we have deaths in our family…

– Margaret Cardinal

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Notes:

Margaret Cardinal Testimony. SP118_part16. Shared at Slave Lake Hearing Sharing Panel. June 18, 2013. National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation holds copyright. https://archives.nctr.ca/SP118_part16