IRSHDC : School : Blue Quills (AB) [18685]

Colored corner shot of Blue Quills (unknown date). Source: The Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) of Montreal.

Blue Quills (AB)

Dates of Operation

August 1, 1898 - June 20, 1990

Description

Roman Catholic missionaries established a boarding school at Lac la Biche in 1891. The school buildings were moved to the Saddle Lake First Nation in 1898 and the school was renamed Blue Quills. The school was relocated once more in 1931, to a location near St. Paul, Alberta. When the federal government announced that it would be closing the school in 1970, Saddle Lake First Nation members occupied the school in protest. Their occupation ended with an agreement that saw Blue Quills become Canada’s first residence and school controlled by First Nations people. The high school and its residence closed in 1990. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation)

Denomination

Catholic Church

More Information

Alternate Name(s)

Blue Quills Boarding School
Blue Quills Native Education Centre
Blue Quills Native Residential School
Blue Quills Roman Catholic Indian Residential School
Blue Quills School
Blue Quills Student Residence
Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart Mission
Saddle Lakes
St. Joseph's Hospice
St. Joseph's Hostel

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Map Information

Location

First location, 1898-1931: "Point is on the site of the first location of the Blue Quill's Indian Residential School (Saddle Lake-Blue Quill's Mission). The mission was situated 6 miles southwest of Saddle Lake and one mile north of the river. The point is on the site of the mission church. The cemetery is situated 300 metres north" (Orlandini, 2019).

Second location, 1931-1990: "Point is on the site of the main building of the Blue Quills Indian Residential School. This site was the second location of the Blue Quills school. The buildings are now the Blue Quills First Nation's College" (Orlandini, 2019).

Location Credit

Rosa Orlandini, Morgan Hite and Residential School Interactive Map. The school/hostel location data was collected by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission / National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Morgan Hite (Atlas of Indian Residential Schools of Canada), Stephanie Pyne (Residential Schools Land Memory Mapping Project) and Rosa Orlandini (Map and GIS Librarian, York University Libraries). The location data and associated attribute data was enhanced, revised and updated by Rosa Orlandini, in consultation with the Archivists at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Location Source

Orlandini, Rosa, 2019, "Residential Schools Locations Dataset (Shapefile format)", https://doi.org/10.5683/SP2/FJG5TG, Borealis, V3, UNF:6:TTc1mMvx2BlBqBgIN05xVw== [fileUNF]