Description
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Location and Dates of Operation
Catholic missionaries arrived on the west coast of Vancouver in 1874 and a mission was established in 1875 at Hesquiat. Some sporadic schooling operated in the vicinity of Clayoquot Sound until 1899 but the Catholics could not maintain a consistent presence in all the missionary stations they set up. The Christie (or Kakawis – “a Place of Berries”) Residential School building was completed in October 1899, partly in a rushed response to the incursion of Presbyterian missionaries in the area and the Catholic fear that any funding might be used to open a Protestant School if a Catholic one where not opened first, and the school itself opened in Wednesday, May 29th 1900. The founding of the school was driven by the missionary Augustin Brabant and named after the Catholic Archbishop of Oregon (previously Bishop of Vancouver Island), Alexander Christie, who obtained the initial funding. The school was located in Clayoquot Sound, on Meares Island, at the foot of Lone Cone Mtn, about 50 feet above the bay, in Deception Channel. One of the reasons cited for the location was that it was on “neutral ground”, outside the territories traditionally occupied by different “tribes." (Healing Journeys)
In June 1971, the "old" Christie Indian Residential School on Meares Island closed, this included two days of closing ceremonies that attracted hundreds of Indigenous families, as well three bishops and other clergy, plus various educational, civic, provincial and federal representatives. In October 1971 a Christie student residence was opened close by at Tofino, this being a continuation of the “old” or “first” Christie school. Children at the new residence would attend public schools at Ucluelet and Tofino. On June 30th 1983 the Christie Student Residence was closed for good.
Denominational Oversight and Funding
The Christie school on the west side of Vancouver Island was founded by a chapter of the Order of St. Benedict, and they administered the school between 1900-1938. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate took over administration from 1938. After nearly six decades at Christie, Benedictine Sisters were suddenly recalled by their Oregon supporters in 1959. They would be replaced by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary – “the Hollywood nuns” as they were popularly known as they hailed from Los Angeles. The Oblates ceased administration of the school in April 1, 1969, at which point it was handed over to the government who continued direct operation until the closure of the first site in 1971. The West Coast District Council of Indian Chiefs assumed administration of the Christie Residence at Tofino from the government in September 1974 until its closure. The government also administered the school briefly for the 1975-76 school year.
Attendance Figures
The school opened with an initial attendance of 10 students, rising to 27 students at the end of the first year of operation in 1900-1901. The school reached a maximum attendance figure of 158 students in 1956.
General Information on Residential Schools
Children who went to the Residential School were isolated from their community, and frequently forcibly taken from their families. They were forbidden from speaking their language at the school, suffered neglect, were underfed, and often faced sexual, physical and mental abuse.
General [Building] Conditions at the School
The first school buildings, completed by October 1899, encompassed a 60x40ft two-storey structure and a small outside laundry.
When, in 1907, the Christie, British Columbia, school’s waterline froze, nine boys and the instructor spent eight days replacing the pipe.
In 1934, G. H. Barry wrote that although, in his previous report on the Christie school on Meares Island, British Columbia, he had noted that the only fire escape at the school was a set of “wooden stairs and wooden ladder attached to the back wall of the school,” he now reported that “even this poor escape has been done away with.” In case of fire, he did not see how the children could be saved. (TRC, Hist Report 1)
An inspection of the Christie Island, British Columbia, school in 1946 identified the need for additional methods of escape from each classroom and the installation of outward-opening exit doors.
In 1956, the federal government agreed to provide funding for the construction of a new school at Christie, British Columbia. The Oblates, while recognizing that there were problems with that school, believed there was greater need for a new building at Mission in that province.
In the fall of 1960, Christie, British Columbia, school principal Father Allan Noonan wrote that there was so little room in his school that at least six Catholic children were attending public school. He added, “The Indian Department appear [sic] to enjoy seeing our Catholic Indians either in the Public School or not going to School at all. If we only had some good Catholics in the Department out here to stick up for us!” (TRC, Hist Report 2)
The Christie, British Columbia, school needed extensive renovations to satisfy the recommendations of a 1960 British Columbia fire marshal’s inspection. These included improvements to wiring, to the water supply, and to the fire escapes. Despite the improvements made in 1963, the following year, a federal fire inspector judged fire protection at the school to be “poor.” He said, “A fire would spread so rapidly in the main building that any form of protection requiring human operation would be of little value.” While there was a sufficient number of fire escapes and stairwells, they were all of wooden construction and “could easily be rendered unusable in the event of a fire.” When the fire commissioner recommended the installation of a sprinkler system at the Christie school in 1965, Indian affairs sought to install a fire-detection system as an alternative, again arguing that the building would be closed “within a reasonable period.” Fire Dominion Fire Commissioner’s office rejected that proposal, and the school was faced with the prospect of having to significantly reduce its enrollment. (TRC, Hist Report 2)
As a result of a fire commissioner's report in 1965 stating that if the dormitories were to remain on the 2nd and 3rd floors sprinklers would have to be installed; a suggestion was made to reduce enrollment so all dormitories could be on the main floor and the classroom moved upstairs, this eventually happened.
In 1967 a severe storm destroyed a bridge and a wharf at the school.
In 1968 while a new hostel was being discussed, there was extensive correspondence regarding the dangerous state of the school buildings.
In 1970, the administrator of the Christie, British Columbia, school referred to the “high cost of transporting food to the school due to its isolated location.” (TRC, Hist Report 2)
A 1981 inspection of the Christie student residence, which was located in Tofino, British Columbia, revealed that smoke detectors were not located in all sleeping areas, and many of them were inoperative.
Diseases and Deaths
There were outbreaks of measles at Christie IRS throughout its history. In particular in 1948, 80 cases of measles were reported. In addition to measles, tubercular meningitis was present at the school. In 1939 and 1940, five children died of this disease. One child died at the school in 1941.
There were also some reports of children having Tuberculosis and influenza at the school.
In 1944, a child died of Peritonitis at the school.
In 1949, at the Christie, British Columbia, school, the condition of the girls’ teeth was excellent, due to the fact they were brushing regularly. However, according to Tennant, “The boys’ teeth have not received the same care and the results are obvious.” (TRC, Hist Report 2)
Dolores George, a student at the Christie Island, British Columbia, school, drowned in 1955 when the skiff that she and another girl were in overturned. The records do not indicate if the two girls were attempting to run away, although one letter describing the incident suggests that they may have been trying to harvest kelp.
Student and Parental Resistance
There are two documented incidents of children running away from Christie IRS. In 1960, three boys ran away, two did not return to the school and one was returned. All three were officially discharged within three months.
In 1960, Christie, British Columbia, principal Allan Noonan recommended that two fifteen-year-old boys be discharged. They had left the school and, using a stolen canoe, made their way home to Ahousaht. The parents of one boy refused to force him to return to school, and Noonan judged him to be “a trouble-maker” and a “bad influence on the younger boys.” The other boy’s parents wanted him to return to school, but, in the principal’s view, he was a problem in the classroom, refusing “to do any work at all.” (TRC, Hist Report 2)
In 1964, two boys ran away from the school. They left in a dugout canoe and were missing for a day and a half before being returned to the school. They were described as being homesick.
Abuse of Students
In 1924, it was reported that the Principal of the school was " ... too severe in his punishment of the boys ... the boy's shirt was stripped from his back and the boy punished on the bare back." (School Narrative)
In dealing with three boys who had repeatedly run away from the Squamish school in North Vancouver, Indian agent F. J. C. Ball recommended in 1940 that they each be sent to a different and more remote school: Kuper Island, Christie, and Kamloops. Such punishment would, it was felt, also “have a good effect on the other pupils.” (TRC, Hist Reports 2)
In 1937 it was reported that "It has been suggested ... that [a staff member] may be rather rough in his treatment of the boys." There is no further mention of this report. (School Narrative)
In May 1951, Martin Saxey, a member of the Cheeleshat Band in British Columbia and a former Residential School student, was convicted of manslaughter for killing a man after an argument over a driftwood log. After his imprisonment, his wife and children were allowed to live at the Christie school on Meares Island, off the coast of Vancouver Island. Upon Saxey’s release from jail in 1955, the school administration hired him to work as a baker, boat driver, and maintenance worker. While he was working at the school, Saxey sexually abused children. In the case of at least one boy, the abuse continued for five years, from 1957 to 1962. The victim did not report any of these incidents to the police until 1995. By then, Saxey had been dead for nearly ten years, so no criminal charges were laid. However, a civil court confirmed that Saxey had abused students while he was at the school.
In June 1957, Kamloops principal James Mulvihill wrote that Christie principal M. D. Kearney was anticipating having a priest removed from the Christie school before the summer holidays. Kearney feared that scandalous relationships were developing between the priest and a female student. In December 1957, Kearney destroyed a letter from the student that described her attachment to the priest. An Oblate newsletter in the fall of 1957 announced that the individual had “left for the East.” (TRC, Hist Reports 2)
Two documents, dated February 5th and 11th 1963, discuss a male student at Christie IRS who was discharged "For an act of immorality-rape." The documents do not indicate if the female involved was a student at the school or not. (School Narrative)
Fate of the Building(s)
In 1976 "Old" Christie (the original site) was developed into the Kakawis Family Development Centre. On the night of July 15th 1983, the original Christie school building (then being operated as the Ka Ka Wis Family Development Centre) burned to the ground. Three other buildings also burned to the ground and three families lost their possessions. The Student Residence / second site was torn down in the mid-1980’s to make way for the Tin Wis Best Western Resort, which is owned by Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation.
Survivor Testimonies
Christie Residential School Survivor testimony can be found in the report The Survivors Speak: a report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
If you would like to share your Residential School experience, including recording your own testimony, please contact us at irshdc.reference@ubc.ca.
