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.