Fort Alexander Residential School (Sagkeeng)
Transcript of Fort Alexander Residential School (Sagkeeng)
Fort Alexander Residential School (Sagkeeng)
Fort Alexander’s first school dates back to around 1860. It was a day school, run by Mr. T.
Barnet, who was later replaced by Mr. Spence. In 1880, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate founded
a day school in Fort Alexander specifically for the region’s Indigenous and Métis students.
Things changed rapidly in 1905, however, when the St Boniface Industrial School shut down. In
exchange for school land, the Oblates promised the Canadian Government to open residential
schools closer to Indigenous communities. Thus, in June of 1905, under the management of
Father Philippe Valès O.M.I., a residential school, where students would live for about ten
months of the year, was opened. This new school could accommodate 45 students.
The Oblates were assisted by the Sisters of the Cross, who arrived in 1905 and served nine years
at the school. They worked with Father Philippe Geelen, O.M.I., who was sent to Fort Alexander
Residential School in 1906 to bring it to the same level as other boarding schools in the Oblate
Province of Manitoba.
In 1912 the school was expanded to accommodate up to sixty students. The school’s
modernization was implemented smoothly. A laundry and pigpen were constructed and the
building was wired for electricity in 1919. In 1923, the school had 90 acres of land, of which 75
were cultivated, which allowed the school to produce a good portion of the provisions needed to
feed students during the long winters.
While the curriculum at Fort Alexander Residential School was the same as in other schools in
the province, the students also learned trades. The girls, for example, learned sewing, knitting,
housekeeping, cooking, first aid, and music. The boys, on the other hand, learned carpentry,
wood carving, auto mechanics, and painting. The Oblates hoped this would help students find
work easily once they graduated.
The Sisters of the Cross left Fort Alexander Residential School in 1914. The rules of their
congregation did not suit the work at the residential school, for example prohibiting their access
to the boy’s wing. In addition, most of the sisters did not speak English, which made it necessary
to put lay teachers in charge of English classes.
The Sisters of the Cross were thus replaced by the Missionary Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart
and of Mary Immaculate, who arrived in 1914 and stayed in Fort Alexander until the residential
school was shut down. They were responsible for teaching, supervision, housekeeping, cooking,
as well as running the dairy and the infirmary.
In 1923, student recruitment remained difficult. Parents were hesitant to send their children
away to boarding school while religious staff needed a certain number of students to ensure
school funding. Things would improve for school administration, however, and in 1950 a day
school was opened which accommodated local students. Children living farther away continued to
attend the boarding school. Thus in 1950, 145 students attended the school in Fort Alexander.
Over the course of the 1950’s, the Oblates dreamed of recruiting more Indigenous priests. With
that aim in view, Father Apollinaire Plamondon, O.M.I. founded St. John’s Minor Seminary in Fort
Alexander in 1953. Thus, Indigenous students no longer needed to move away to attend the
province’s seminaries.
The necessity of establishing an institution permitting Indigenous students to continue their
education until 12th grade became more and more apparent. To this end, Manitoba’s first Catholic
high school for Indigenous students was founded in Fort Alexander in 1957.
Towards the end of the 1960’s, the Department of Indian Affairs’ policy no longer promoted
having separate schools for Indigenous students. Rather, these students were integrated into
existing schools, or had schools built in their communities to avoid the necessity of going to
boarding schools far from their families. So, in 1970, it was decided that Fort Alexander
Residential School would close its doors for good. Father Antonio Fortin, O.M.I., was principal at
the time.
References
Carrière, Gaston. Dictionnaire biographique des Oblats de Marie Immaculée au Canada, Ottawa,
Ottawa University Press, (1979), 3 volumes.
Geelen, Philippe. « Mission du Fort Alexandre, Man. (1865) », Missions des Oblats de Marie-
Immaculée, issue 219, (March 1923), p. 1-13
Gilbert, Maurice et Normand Martel. Dictionnaire biographique des Oblats de Marie Immaculée au
Canada, Ottawa, Ottawa University Press, (1989), volume 4.
Photographs
Philippe Valès
Photograph of Father Philippe Valès, O.M.I. taken between 1918 and 1920, when he was
attached to Manitoba’s Berens River Mission. Born in Martinargues, France in 1865, Father Valès
took orders at Saint Joseph’s Scholasticate in Ottawa in 1888. He arrived in Western Canada in
1893 where he would work as a principal in various mission schools. He returned sick to France
in 1921 where he passed away on August 14th, 1922.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Oblats de Marie-Immaculée Province
du Manitoba/Délégation, SHSB 31700
Fort Alexander Residential School (Sagkeeng)
Photograph of Fort Alexander Residential School. This building was constructed in1905.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Oblats de Marie-Immaculée Province
du Manitoba/Délégation, SHSB 24260
Students and Staff of Fort Alexander Residential School in 1920
Students and staff at Fort Alexander Residential School in 1920. Father Philippe Geelen, O.M.I.
can be seen in the center. He stayed with the school from its opening in 1905 until 1936,
working a long time as vice-principal, then as principal from 1914 to 1918.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Oblats de Marie-Immaculée Province
du Manitoba/Délégation, SHSB 29471
Carpentry Shop
Photograph taken in 1956 in the Fort Alexander Residential School’s carpentry workshop. Trade
classes could be taught by religious or lay teachers.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Collection générale de la SHSB, SHSB 1168
The School Garden
Pictured in this 1921 photograph are members of the Enfants de Marie (Children of Mary)
accompanied by Sister Marie St-Bonaventure, M.O. in the residential school’s garden. This
garden was meant to give the girls the chance to learn how to grow their own food. Harvests
also contributed to the needs of students and school staff.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Oblats de Marie-Immaculée Province
du Manitoba/Délégation, SHSB 29474
Fruit Harvest in Saint-Georges in 1924
This photograph was taken in July 1924 in front of the house of Joseph Papineau in Saint-
Georges, Manitoba. The girls from Fort Alexander Residential School are taking advantage of an
outing with their teachers to pick berries.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Oblats de Marie-Immaculée Province
du Manitoba/Délégation, SHSB 29475
Father Apollinaire Plamondon, O.M.I. and Yong Fort Alexander Students
Photograph of Father Apollinaire Plamondon, O.M.I. accompanied by young Fort Alexander
students. On January 29th, 1953, he opened St. John’s Minor Seminary, the first seminary
dedicated entirely to the calling of young Indigenous people in Western Canada. He was the
seminary’s spiritual director until 1958.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, SHSB General Collection, SHSB 1186
School Baseball Team in 1957
Fort Alexander Residential School’s baseball team accompanied by their coach, Brother Étienne
Aubry, O.M.I. This photograph was taken in 1957 on school grounds.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Oblats de Marie-Immaculée Province
du Manitoba/Délégation, SHSB 29481
A play, staged in 1960
Teachers at Fort Alexander Residential School also taught their students about the fine arts. This
photograph shows students staging a play in 1960.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds of the Missionary Oblate Sisters of
the Sacred Heart and of Mary Immaculate, PA821
Father Antonio Fortin
Father Antonio Fortin was born on September 12th, 1917 in Price, Quebec and ordained in1943 in
Ottawa. He arrived in Western Canada in 1944 and worked as a teacher at Collège de
Gravelbourg in Saskatchewan. He resided in Fort Alexander between 1968 and 1975, where he
worked variously as a missionary, an administrator and a chaplain.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds Oblats de Marie-Immaculée Province
du Manitoba/Délégation, SHSB 27355
Digitized Documents
A List of Students Enrolled in Fort Alexander’s Day School
List of students enrolled in Fort Alexander’s day school, founded by the Oblates in 1800. Their
attendance was very irregular due to their parents’ traditional way of life which often involved
regular seasonal migrations to more reliable trapping and hunting grounds.
Archives of the Société historique de Saint-Boniface, Fonds of the Corporation archiépiscopale catholique romaine de Saint-Boniface, Taché Series, 0075/T41324
A History of the School, Published in 1951
This history of the school was published in L’Ami du foyer magazine in 1951. It was written by
Boniface Guimond, a former student of Fort Alexander Residential School.
Boniface Guimond. « L’École résidentielle du Fort-Alexandre, Manitoba », L’Ami du foyer, volume 47, issue 1, September 1951, p. 2
PDF Documents
A 1923 report from Father Philippe Geelen, O.M.I.
A 1923 report from Father Philippe Geelen, O.M.I.
In this report, sent in 1923 to the Oblates’ mother house in France, Father Philippe Geelen,
O.M.I. recounts the history of the Fort Alexander Mission. He also explains his perceptions
surrounding the importance of the work done at the residential school where he was serving
since it was opened in 1905.
Philippe Geelen, O.M.I., « Mission du Fort Alexandre, Man. (1865) », Missions des Oblats de
Marie-Immaculée, issue 219, (mars 1923), p. 1 à 13.