IRSHDC : School : St. Paul's (BC) [878]

[St. Paul's Indian [Residential] School] (192?). Source: NVMA, 11417.

Home Communities of Students

Chilliwack, Creekside, Líl̓wat Nation, Skwah First Nation, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), Snuneymuxw First Nation, Squamish River, Sts’ailes, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Wei Wai Kai First Nation, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam).

Note on Home Communities

The “home communities" mentioned above come from the school narratives created by government researchers in the Indian Residential School litigation process. Here the communities are described as “bands” and “reserves.” We have tried to update the names to communities' current, preferred names (these names are hyperlinked in the list above). In instances where we have not been sure which community is being referenced, we have left the name as it appears in the school narrative and unlinked. The names of cultural groups have been updated and the original name placed in square brackets.

These lists on the school records are not comprehensive. In a few cases the community names have been supplemented with information from a school’s quarterly returns, but this has not been done consistently. This project is an iterative, ongoing one. If you are aware of other community names that we should include in this list, or would like to comment on those we have updated, please email us at irshdc.reference@ubc.ca.

St. Paul's (BC)

Dates of Operation

January 1, 1899 – August 31, 1959

Description

The Squamish school in North Vancouver, also known as St. Paul’s, was built in 1899. Two pupils were hospitalized with smallpox in 1929. In 1931, the local Indian Agent reported after an inspection that he suspected the children at Squamish were not being fed properly. In 1933, the Indian Commissioner for British Columbia described the school as a “‘death-trap’ and a ‘fire-trap.’” In 1935, the school suffered an epidemic of chickenpox. Overcrowding continued into the 1950s; in 1957 the building was condemned and closed two years later. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation)

Additional Resources

For more information on the school, see the timeline.

Denomination

Catholic Church

More Information

Alternate Name(s)

St. Paul's (Squamish, North Vancouver)
North Vancouver
North Vancouver Indian Boarding School
Squamish
Squamish Boarding School
Squamish Indian Boarding School
Squamish Indian Residential School
Squamish Mission Boarding School
St. Paul's Day School
St. Paul's Indian Day School

Permalink

Map Information

Location

"Point is on the site of the main building of the St. Paul's Indian Residential School (Squamish Indian Residential School). The school building was demolished in the late 1950s or early 1960s" (Orlandini, 2019).

Location Credit

Morgan Hite and Rosa Orlandini. 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]