Residential Schools in Saskatchewan: Where to Start Learning

This one is heavier than most things we post. If you're a Survivor, or the child or grandchild of one, please read at your own pace and stop whenever you need to.

Support is available 24 hours a day. The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line provides crisis support to former residential school students and their families, toll-free, at 1-866-925-4419. First Nations, Inuit and Métis people looking for immediate emotional support can also call the Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310 or chat online at hopeforwellness.ca.

We're an Indigenous-owned shop in Saskatoon, on Treaty 6 territory. People ask us where to begin learning about residential schools in Saskatchewan, and we'd rather point them to the people and places that hold this history properly than guess. So this is a starting map, not the whole story. Every fact below comes from the organizations and government pages listed at the end.

What residential schools were

The Canadian Encyclopedia describes residential schools as government-sponsored religious schools set up to assimilate Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. That's the plain definition. What it meant for families is something Survivors have described in their own words, and we'll point you to those words further down.

Some numbers for scale:

• The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement recognizes 140 residential schools that operated in Canada between 1831 and 1997.
• An estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children attended them.
• The Roman Catholic Church ran about three-fifths of the schools, the Anglican Church about one-quarter, and the United and Presbyterian Churches the rest.
• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that at least 3,200 children died in the schools. Commission Chair Justice Murray Sinclair noted the real number may be more than 6,000.

On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized, saying the policy was wrong, caused great harm and has no place in the country.

Residential schools in Saskatchewan

The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan says there were twenty residential schools in the province, run under the authority of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian Churches. The Government of Saskatchewan, citing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, puts it as approximately 20 federal residential schools operating here from the 1880s to the 1990s.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) lists the Saskatchewan institutions recognized in the Settlement Agreement:

• Battleford Industrial School
• Beauval Residential School
• Cote Improved Federal Day School
• Crowstand Residential School
• File Hills Residential School
• Fort Pelly Residential School
• Gordon's Residential School
• Lac La Ronge Residential School
• Lebret Residential School
• Marieval Residential School
• Muscowequan Residential School
• Onion Lake (Saint Barnabus; St. Alban's)
• Prince Albert Residential School
• Regina Residential School
• Round Lake Residential School
• St. Anthony's Residential School (Sacred Heart)
• St. Michael's Residential School (Duck Lake)
• St. Philip's Residential School (Kamsack)
• Sturgeon Landing Residential School
• Thunderchild Residential School

Some of these ran for a very long time. The NCTR gives dates of 1883 to 1914 for Battleford Industrial School, and 1897 to 1995 for Beauval. If one of these names is connected to your family, you may already know more than any list can tell you.

Cowessess First Nation and Marieval, 2021

In June 2021, Cowessess First Nation announced that 751 unmarked graves had been found on their land. In a statement on June 28, 2021, the Speaker of the Senate described them as the graves of children who attended the former Marieval Residential School in Saskatchewan.

Earlier that month, on June 18, the Government of Saskatchewan announced $2 million for residential school site research. Its release noted that the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) had already identified the former schools at Muskowekwan, Onion Lake St. Anthony's, Beauval, Guy Hill, Lebret and Sturgeon Landing as possible sites for research.

We won't add to this beyond what was said publicly. The work belongs to the Nations and communities doing it, and they decide what they share and when.

The TRC, briefly

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada explains that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created in 2008 under the Settlement Agreement. Over six years it gathered testimony from 6,500 Survivors and witnesses. In 2015 it released a six-volume final report, including the 94 Calls to Action.

We've already written about what the Calls to Action ask of workplaces, so we won't repeat it here. You'll find that in our piece on the TRC Calls to Action for businesses. For the national day of remembrance, see our guide to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The NCTR archive and how to search it

The NCTR is at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. It was created through an agreement between the TRC and the university shortly before the Commission's mandate ended. It's the permanent home for the statements, documents and other materials the TRC gathered.

The NCTR says its archives hold more than four million records, including the largest collection of residential school Survivor perspectives in existence. Here's how to use them:

1. Start with the public database. Go to archives.nctr.ca to browse released documents, oral histories and photos. There are tutorial videos too.
2. Search by school name. Using the names from the Saskatchewan list above is a practical place to begin.
3. Survivors can request their own records. The NCTR's "How to Access Records" page has a Survivor Inquiry Form you can send by mail or email. They also offer help if your internet access is limited.
4. Family members have their own process. If the Survivor is living, you'll send a Third Party Inquiry Form with a consent form they've signed. If the Survivor has passed away, the NCTR asks for proof of death, such as an obituary or funeral program.
5. Community researchers can write to NCTRrecords@umanitoba.ca to talk through access and an agreement.

The NCTR also keeps the National Student Memorial Register, set up in 2019 to remember and honour the children who never returned home. It's updated as communities and families share new names and corrections. You can reach the NCTR at 1-855-415-4534 or nctr@umanitoba.ca.

A word of care: these are real records about real children. It's okay to take breaks, and it's okay to have someone with you while you look.

How to support Survivors

Most of what helps is quiet and practical.

• Listen more than you ask. Survivors aren't obligated to tell anyone their story. If someone shares, take it as trust, not as material.
• Keep the crisis line handy. Save 1-866-925-4419 in your phone and share it at events, in staff rooms and in group chats. It's for former students and their families.
• Back Survivor-led and Indigenous-led organizations. The Legacy of Hope Foundation is a national Indigenous charity that has worked with Survivors since 2000 on exhibitions and bilingual curriculum. In B.C., the Indian Residential School Survivors Society has offered counselling, advocacy and cultural support since 1994.
• Visit a place of remembrance. The Saskatchewan Residential School Memorial at Government House was dedicated on June 21, 2022, with Elders, knowledge keepers and Survivors involved in every step. It answers Call to Action 82.

A respectful reading list

The TRC reports are free to download as PDFs from the NCTR website. If you read nothing else, start with the first three:

• The Survivors Speak, built from Survivors' own testimony.
• Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future, the Executive Summary.
• What We Have Learned, a shorter overview of principles.
• Canada's Residential Schools: Missing Children and Unmarked Burials, for context on the work communities like Cowessess are doing.
• Canada's Residential Schools: The Métis Experience and The Inuit and Northern Experience, since this history isn't only First Nations history.

For more on the land we work from, read Treaty 6 and where XUSI comes from, or learn who we are.

Questions people ask

How many residential schools were in Saskatchewan?

The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan and the NCTR's list both show twenty. The Government of Saskatchewan says approximately 20, operating from the 1880s to the 1990s.

Can I look up a relative's school records?

Yes, through the NCTR. Living Survivors can request their own records, and family members can apply with consent or, if the Survivor has passed, with proof of death.

Who can call the crisis line?

The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line, 1-866-925-4419, is for former students and their families. It's open 24 hours and toll-free.

Sources

• The Canadian Encyclopedia: Residential Schools in Canada
• Indigenous Services Canada: Get mental health support (crisis lines)
• The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan: Residential Schools
• NCTR: Saskatchewan Residential Schools
• NCTR: Residential Schools
• NCTR: About
• NCTR: Records
• NCTR: How to Access Records
• NCTR: National Student Memorial Register
• NCTR: TRC Reports
• Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
• Senate of Canada: Speaker's Statement, Cowessess First Nation
• Government of Saskatchewan: $2 Million for Residential School Site Research
• Government House Saskatchewan: Saskatchewan Residential School Memorial
• Legacy of Hope Foundation
• Indian Residential School Survivors Society