“Am I Going to Get Anything Out of the Country if I Go and Fight for It?”: Red Deer Industrial School Survivors in World War One

“Am I Going to Get Anything Out of the Country if I Go and Fight for It?”: Red Deer Industrial School Survivors in World War One

Jared

Editor’s note: November 8 is Indigenous Veterans Day, a time to commemorate the service and sacrifice of Indigenous Veterans and acknowledge the historical injustices that many faced during and after their military service. This post also relates to residential school histories. If reading this is causing pain or bringing back distressing memories, please call the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. The Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day and can also provide information on other health supports provided by the Health Canada Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program.

The banner image above is “Arras Front, Dury,” April 1919. Canadian Official War Photograph O.4496. The artist of the overlaid beaded poppy is Tiffany Dettieh.

Written by: Laura Golebiowski (Indigenous Consultation Adviser) in collaboration with Saddle Lake Cree Nation

Between 1914 and 1918, more than 400 western Canadian Natives enlisted and fought for Canada. They suffered casualties at a greater rate than that of the non-Indian Canadian soldiers who fought overseas. For their sacrifice they gained little in return.

-L. James Dempsey, in Warriors of the King: Prairie Indians in World War One

Many Indigenous men who enlisted in World War One were heralded for the skills they brought from their home communities and culture: patience, stealth and marksmanship. But some were just boys, who spent most of their childhood sequestered in residential school.

When Britain declared war in August 1914, Red Deer Industrial School was in its 21st year of operation. Forty-seven boys and 35 girls were enrolled, including 25 children from the Saddle Lake Agency, comprised in part by the Nations contemporarily known as Saddle Lake Cree Nation and Whitefish (Goodfish) Lake First Nation #128.

Children continued to labour to support school operations. “The half-day system is followed and the older pupils work on the farm and at housework.” At the time, the school buildings were falling into disrepair. However, planned improvements to the school were halted because of the outbreak of the war. First Nations were becoming increasingly frustrated with the living conditions and the extreme distance between Red Deer and the children’s home communities.

In his book Warriors of the King: Prairie Indians in World War I, L. James Dempsey writes: “Dissatisfaction with school life and a need for excitement probably best explain why a number of school-aged Natives ran away to enlist.” At Red Deer, at least three boys ran away from the school to enlist.

Ned Seenum, Louie Seenum and Frank Makokis were three boys from Saddle Lake Agency, forced to attend Red Deer Industrial School in the early 1900s. Ned Seenum had attended the school the longest; having been admitted on November 13, 1908, at the age of seven. Frank Makokis was admitted on November 21, 1910, at the age of 10; Louie Seenum was admitted on August 14, 1912, at the age of 12. Little is known about the boys’ experience at Red Deer. We can assume they were assigned the vocation of farming. Ned is noted as assisting with the fencing of the school’s new hog pasture.

On November 21, 1916, Ned, Louie and Frank each signed their respective attestation papers to enlist in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. To do so, they escaped Red Deer Industrial School, made their way to Calgary and lied about their age. Each stated that he was born in 1898—an exaggeration of at least two years. The boys left Canada on December 15, 1916, and arrived in England on December 28.

An excerpt from Ned Seenum’s military personnel records, indicating that his last address was Red Deer Industrial School. First Word War Personnel Records. Source: Seenum, Ned. RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 8764 – 47, Library and Archives Canada.

It did not take long for their absence to be noticed. On December 8, 1916, Red Deer Industrial School Principal J. F. Woodsworth wrote the Minister of Militia and Defence in Ottawa:

The matter is in reference to three Indian boys, pupils of this school, who recently ran away and enlisted in the above named [battalion]. The parents are half frantic about the matter and wish the boys returned, so I am writing in their behalf. None of the boys are yet 17 years old age, although they might be taken for such, and no doubt gave wrong ages.

“Enlistment of Indians for Overseas Service, WWI.” RG24-C-1-a, Volume number: 1221, File number: HQ-593-1-7, File part: 1. Source: Library and Archives Canada.

Per Ned Seenum’s military records, he began the return journey home to Canada on March 23, 1917. He was discharged from the military on May 6, 1917: “Under Age, returned from England.” Like his last address, Ned’s intended place of residence upon military discharge was listed as Red Deer Industrial School. However, Principal Woodsworth did not allow for Ned’s return. “Discharged after running away and going overseas in 1916,” was the remark made in the student register.

One can question if Woodsworth wanted Ned, Frank and Louie to return to Canada at all, or whether he viewed remaining overseas in active service as the nobler choice for the children. “If anything can be done to have these boys returned,” he wrote to Ottawa in 1916, “it would be a great comfort to the ignorant parents who cannot understand the meaning of this war and who know only the horror of it.”

Eneas Makokis, from Saddle Lake, was born on August 9, 1897, to parents John and Eliza. He entered Red Deer Industrial School on December 9, 1910, at the age of 13 with his older brother Zaccheus. Eneas had previously spent seven years at the day school in Onion Lake.

Eneas Makokis, Red Deer. Ca 1910-1915. MG 593 Alfred Hives Collection, P3315. Source: City of Red Deer Archives.

Eneas reached 18 years of age at Red Deer and subsequently was “honourably” discharged. The principal remarked that he was a good farmer. Returning to Saddle Lake, Eneas is documented in the 1916 census as a labourer on the reserve, living with his brother Zaccheus. Eneas reportedly wrote the school advising that he was enjoying attending meetings of the Epworth League—a Methodist young adult association.

When he was 19 years old, Eneas returned to Red Deer to enlist in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. On January 30, 1917, Eneas signed his attestation papers to the 50th battalion. His father John Makokis and sister Mary Hunter are listed as his next of kin. On March 28, 1917, Eneas departed Halifax at 6 a.m. and arrived in Liverpool on April 7.

In September 1918, Eneas and his battalion fought in the Second Battle of Arras near Dury, France. The war diaries of the 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion state that on September 2, the weather was fine with a southwest wind. Firing began at 5 a.m. “Either side opened fire and furnished the heaviest and most effective barrage ever experienced by our troops.”

A map of Eneas Makokis’ movements and final resting place. Map credit: Robert H. Gustas.

Eneas was hit with shrapnel in the head and body. Injured, he was transported approximately 80 kilometres north to where the First Canadian Casualty Clearing Station had just set up at Agnez-lès-Duisans. He was one of 900 patients received by the station that day.

Eneas died of his injuries at the clearing station. He was only 21 years old. He was buried in the Ligny St. Flochel British Cemetery, far from his family, his Nation and the country he was fighting for.

Eneas Makokis’ grave. Photo credit: Phil Stevenson, findagrave.com, June 3, 2024.

L. James Dempsey writes: “When the Indian soldiers came home they believed they were returning to an enlightened society for which many of them had fought and died. Overseas they had been exposed to new ideas which had broadened their outlook and their expectations. On their return home, Indian soldiers began to seek better treatment for themselves and their people…In reality, however, nothing had changed.”

Mark Steinhauer, from Saddle Lake, attended Red Deer Industrial School from 1903 until June 1911. In 1916, in a school report of former pupils, Mark is stated to have “donned the khaki” and was completing military training in Edmonton. He enlisted in World War One on April 5, 1916, and returned home at the end of the war on June 5, 1919.

An excerpt of Mark Steinhauer’s letter to the Department of Indian Affairs, 1916. Indian Affairs. RG10, Volume 6767, File 452-15 Pt. 1, Library and Archives Canada.

Before travelling overseas, Mark questioned the benefits he would receive because of his service. He wrote the Department of Indian Affairs in 1916, requesting more information regarding enfranchisement (many First Nations people lost their legal Indian Act status as a result of serving in the First or Second World War) and his ability to receive a land grant near his home of Saddle Lake:

I have been wondering since I joined the army whether we are going to get anything out of our country that we are going to fight for pretty soon. There has been quite a number of us Treaty Indians that have enlisted since the war broke out…

I have been asked almost by everyone that I have tried to get to enlist in our Battalion, am I going to get anything out [of] the country if I go and fight for it? All the answer I could give was “I do not know.”

By 1927, only two status Indian veterans in Alberta had received a loan for land under the Solider Settlement Act of 1919. The legislation directly conflicted with a 1906 Indian Act amendment, disallowing Indians and non-Treaty Indians from acquiring a homestead on Dominion lands. Dempsey concludes: “While conditions for the majority of Canadians improved, the same could not be said for Natives. Even though they survived the war, many Indian veterans continued to live at the bottom of the economic ladder and as the years passed their situation did not improve. One can imagine the despair they experienced, especially when comparing themselves to their white colleagues.”

On Indigenous Veterans Day, we remember the Survivors of Red Deer Industrial School who enlisted in World War One: Andrew Larocque, Daniel Joshua, Eneas Makokis, Frank Makokis, James Saskatchewan, Louie Seenum, Mark Steinhauer, Ned Seenum and William Pocha.

The Historic Resources Management Branch is honoured to be collaborating with Survivor communities regarding the preservation and recognition of the Red Deer Industrial School cemetery, and on broader truth-telling initiatives. Thank you to Saddle Lake Cree Nation for helping tell these stories. Special thank you to Lorna Redcrow for her ongoing guidance and collaboration. Hiy hiy.

Sources and further reading

Dempsey, L. James. (1999). Warriors of the King: Prairie Indians in World War I. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Centre.

Enlistment of Indians for Overseas Service. WWI. RG24-C-1-a, Volume number: 1221, File number: HQ-593-1-7, File part: 1. Library and Archives Canada.

First Word War Personnel Records. Makokis, Eneas. RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5862-39, Library and Archives Canada.

First Word War Personnel Records. Makokis, Frank. RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 5862-40, Library and Archives Canada.

First Word War Personnel Records. Seenum, Louis. RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 8764 – 46, Library and Archives Canada.

First Word War Personnel Records. Seenum, Ned. RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 8764 – 47, Library and Archives Canada.

First Word War Personnel Records. Steinhauer, Mark. RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 9266-15, Library and Archives Canada.

Fox, Uta. (1993). The failure of the Red Deer Industrial School [Master’s thesis]. University of Calgary. Retrieved online from https://ucalgary.scholaris.ca/items/e1672ffe-d390-4740-b7bf-3815b58e4ad4.

Gaffen, Fred. (2008). Forgotten soldiers. Produced for the Canadian Defence Academy by 17 Wing Winnipeg Publishing Office. Retrieved online from https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2023/mdn-dnd/D2-232-2008-eng.pdf.

Indian Affairs. RG10, Volume number: 3921, file 116, 818-1B. Library and Archives Canada.

Indian Affairs. RG10, Volume 6767, File 452-15 Pt. 1. Library and Archives Canada.

Red Deer Industrial Student Register, Provincial Archives of Alberta PR1979.0268/162.

Titley, Brian. (1992). “Red Deer Indian Industrial School: A case study in the history of Native education.” Exploring our educational past: Schooling in the North-West Territories and Alberta, (eds. Nick Kach and Kas Mazurek). Calgary: Detselig Enterprises Limited., 55-72.

War diaries – 1st Canadian Casualty Clearing Station = Journal de guerre – 1er Poste d’évacuation canadien. RG9-III-D-3, Volume number: 5032, Microfilm reel number: T-10921, File number: 838, File part: 1=1914/08/13-1916/06/30;2=1916/07/01-1919/03/31. Library and Archives Canada.

War diaries – 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion = Journal de guerre – 50e Bataillon d’infanterie canadien. RG9-III-D-3, Volume number: 4941, Microfilm reel number: T-10748, File number: 441, File part: 2=1918/01/01-1918/06/30;3=1918/07/01-1919/05/28. Library and Archives Canada.

Unearthing Brickburn: The story behind a Dr. Peter Fahrney bottle

Unearthing Brickburn: The story behind a Dr. Peter Fahrney bottle

Jared

Editor’s note: The banner image above features a bottle found near the historic site of Brickburn. The clear, machine-made square glass bottle is embossed with the words, “Prepared by Dr. Peter Fahrney & Sons Co. Chicago, Ill., U.S.A.”. This bottle likely contained the infamous 14 per cent “Blood Vitalizer” products of Dr. Peter Fahrney.

Written by: Sophie Smith and Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer, Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary

Over the past two years, the University of Calgary’s field school and Public Archaeology Program, in partnership with Calgary Parks and Open Spaces, completed excavations in Edworthy Park. The park’s approximately 140 acres of land on the south side of the Bow River were purchased from the Edworthy family by the City of Calgary in 1962. Before the land was sold and turned into green space, a small quarry and brick factory called Burnvale was established by a man named John ‘Gravity’ Watson, just west of the Edworthy homestead. This factory was then sold to Edward Henry Crandell in 1905. Crandell soon created the Calgary Pressed Brick Company, establishing the Brickburn factory and officially founding the town of Brickburn.

Although small, this town contained the typical necessities, such as a post office, cookhouse, church, housing and general store. Brickburn also had a train stop that, initially, was just a small whistle stop. It was then upgraded by Crandell to ship bricks and receive goods from the east or west. The Brickburn factory operated continuously until 1932, when it was deserted during the Great Depression. Over the past two years, archaeological research at site EgPm-389, associated with Brickburn, has uncovered an array of interesting features and recovered many historic artifacts, including decorated ceramics, glass marbles, beads and glass bottles.

Brick feature unearthed at EgPm-389, made with bricks produced by the Calgary Pressed Brick and Sandstone Company. Source: Dr. Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer.

A bottle with a story to tell

Many bottles recovered from the site display makers’ marks, which can be used to determine who made the bottle, when it was manufactured and how it was produced. One such machine-made bottle reads, “PREPARED BY/DR PETER FAHRNEY & SONS CO/CHICAGO. ILL., U.S.A.” As it turns out, this bottle and Dr. Peter Fahrney have quite an interesting story. He was even featured in a 1915 article titled, “Notables of the West – Being the Portraits and Biographies of Progressive Men of the West Who Have Helped in the Development and History Making of this Wonderful Country Vol. 2.” What a title!

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The McDougall letter: document conservation at the University of Calgary

The McDougall letter: document conservation at the University of Calgary

Jared

Editor’s note: Sara Bohuch has been a conservator in the University of Calgary’s LCR (Libraries and Cultural Resources) Department since May 2023. She received her MSc in Conservation Practice from Cardiff University (Wales) and, since moving back to Alberta, has completed conservation projects on everything from saddles to staircases. Her recent work at the U of C is with the photographs, archival papers and other surprises that can be found within the Glenbow Library and Archives portion of the LCR department.

The banner image above was photographed by Sara Bohuch.

Written by: Sara Bohuch, BA Archaeology (Simon Fraser University), MSc Conservation Practice (Cardiff University)

Archival records can give the illusion of a neat and tidy history. The material is almost the definition of unassuming: boxes of paper sitting in a temperature-controlled room, organized for ease of access and use. But any foray into reading the seemingly innocuous records that make up a library or archive quickly reveals a truth: what may seem like dusty, logistical data can be particularly complicated.

An example of this can be found in a letter filed away on the shelves of the Glenbow Archives. The letter is part of the George and John McDougall family fonds, a collection made up of two metres of textual records, 490 photographs and two postcard albums that pertain to the family’s time in Alberta. Most of it was transferred to the Glenbow in 1968, with additional components donated in the decades that followed.

Identification image for the letter, Treaty Commissioner Alexander Morris to Reverand George McDougall. Source: Sara Bohuch, staff conservator.

The letter in question dates to 1875 and was written to one of the family’s patriarchs. It’s a dry inquiry (in both its material nature and its topic) from a politician in Manitoba. But the contents become much more interesting when you realize their direct connection to the creation of Treaty 6:

“To the Reverend George McDougall of the Saskatchewan –

Sir

I have to request you to proceed to the Saskatchewan Region, as a messenger from me, and inform the Cree Indians of the Saskatchewan, that the Government of the Queen, will send Her Commissioners to make Treaties with them next summer at Fort Carlton and Fort Pitt, towards the end of July or beginning of August next:

The Queen is mindful of all her Indian children, and has not forgotten the Crees.

In the meantime, I ask the Crees to live at peace with other Indians, and the Whites, and not to interfere with any surveyors or other servants or subjects of the Queen in any of their operations.

The Queen, has always dealt justly with Her Indian Children, and has their good at heart.

This letter will be your authority for delivering the message I send by you, and you can show it to any Chiefs you meet.

Given at Government House

Fort Garry, Manitoba

This ninth day of August A.D. 1875 –

Under my hand and seal.

Alex. Morris

Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories”

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Teaching old dogs new tricks: ageing canids from Junction site, Alberta

Jared

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt summary of a study by Megan Beiraugle et al. For more details, the full study and references can be found here.

Written by: Megan Bieraugle

Despite their tight connection to people over the past several thousand years, understanding the past lives of dogs and wolves is a challenge. Ancient canine companions in Alberta are no different. Despite more than 300 archaeological sites in Alberta having canids (dogs, wolves, coyotes and foxes), we know comparatively very little about their relationships with Indigenous people. One of the best ways for understanding the lives of archaeological dogs stems from age-at-death studies; essentially asking, “how old was this critter when it died?”

A wolfdog at the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary, Alberta. Source: Megan Bieraugle.

Traditional age-at-death studies involve destructive methods, where a sliver of bone or tooth is cut from the fossil and examined. A recent method, developed by Bieraugle et al. (2025), avoids causing this damage by micro-CT (micro-computed tomography) scanning teeth to view the cementum bands instead. Cementum is a non-uniform mineralized connective tissue that grows on tooth roots and essentially anchors the tooth within its socket. What makes cementum interesting is that it kind of grows like tree rings do, with a new ring being added roughly each year.

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“Like Little Prisoners”: Girls and Red Deer Industrial School

“Like Little Prisoners”: Girls and Red Deer Industrial School

Jared

Editor’s note: September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. Reading residential school histories can be a painful process. If reading this is causing pain or bringing back distressing memories, please call the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. The Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day and can also provide information on other health supports provided by the Health Canada Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program.

The banner image above is “A class in penmanship, Red Deer Institute.” ca 1914-1919. From Mission to Partnership Collection, United Church of Canada Archives.

Written by: Laura Golebiowski (Indigenous Consultation Adviser) in collaboration with Samson Cree Nation and Paul First Nation

Industrial and residential schools in Canada were established for purposes of assimilation, Christianization, and colonization.  The institutionalization of Indigenous girls, alongside boys, became an early part of that equation.

In the beginning of the industrial school system on the prairies, the federal government and churches subscribed to Victorian ideologies of gender, class, and education. These ideologies were firmly entrenched in society at the time. Schooling was seen as the means to condition and prepare men for work in the outside world, and to enforce women’s roles inside the home as wives, mothers and providers of domestic service. Additionally, colonial government officials feared that young Indigenous men would return from schools to the reserve, only to ‘revert’ back to their culture, language and religion. Indigenous women were viewed as likely culprits: men would marry, only to be, “pulled back into Indian savagery by her.” In 1883, Liberal party leader Edward Blake argued: “If this scheme is going to succeed at all, you will, unless these Indian bucks are to be veritable bachelors all their lives, have to civilize the intended wives as well as the husbands.” 

When Red Deer Industrial School opened in 1893, 52 children were enrolled. The number of boys nearly doubled that of the girls. The school operated on a half-day system, where a portion of the day was spent in the classroom, and the remainder was spent working to support the school in delegated trades and vocations. The boys were generally assigned the trade of farming, carpentry or potentially blacksmithing. Girls were relegated to domestic labour: cooking, cleaning, and making clothes.

“Students cooking at the Indian Industrial School, Red Deer.” ca 1910-1915. Source: Alfred Hives Collection, City of Red Deer Archives.
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2026 Heritage Award winners announced

2026 Heritage Award winners announced

Jared

Last Thursday, 12 groups and individuals were recognized at the 2026 Alberta Heritage Awards in Edmonton. Each recipient was recognized for their significant contributions to the protection, preservation and promotion of Alberta’s heritage.

Take a look at the award winners.

The Provincial Archives of Alberta 38th Annual Film Night

Jared

Written by: Braden Cannon, Private Records Archivist, Provincial Archives of Alberta

The Provincial Archives of Alberta (PAA) is proud to present its 38th annual Film Night, The View From Alberta: Films By Tom Radford, which pays tribute to the work of Edmonton-based documentary filmmaker Tom Radford.

Film Night is an annual showcase of films from the PAA’s extensive holdings, each year bringing a different theme. Past Film Night events have focused on topics such as wrestling, travelling film shows and CanCon television. Some Film Night events focus on specific filmmakers or creators while others feature and a program of all-women filmmakers.

A still from Má Vlast: The Jiraneks in Canada. Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta.

This year’s focus is on Tom Radford, born and raised in Edmonton. His career began as a filmmaker and by co-founding the film cooperative Filmwest Associates, a production company that focused on industrial shorts and documentaries. Radford also co-founded Film Frontiers and made films under both banners before launching the North West Studio of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 1980.  This Edmonton-based studio of the NFB produced documentaries focusing on western and northern Canada with Radford serving as executive producer until 1985.

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Behind the glass: Cleaning the ant chamber at the Royal Alberta Museum

Behind the glass: Cleaning the ant chamber at the Royal Alberta Museum

Jared

Editor’s note: The post originally appeared on the Royal Alberta Museum blog in March 2026. The image above is the finished, cleaned ant colony. Image courtesy of the Royal Alberta Museum.

Written by: Camilla Leurini, Live Animals Assistant

The Bug Gallery at the Royal Alberta Museum is one of those rare places where time seems to slow down. Visitors of all ages and backgrounds wander through, leaning close to the glass, captivated by the small but mighty creatures going about their lives. You can watch paper wasps build their nests without worrying about a sting. You can observe cockroaches with the comforting knowledge that they are definitely not in your kitchen. But one exhibit consistently draws a crowd: the ant chambers.

At first glance, the ants you see while camping or crossing your backyard might not seem remarkable. Yet those surface wanderers are only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the soil lies a hidden world—the queen, the eggs, the larvae, the pupae—all part of a complex and thriving colony. Our ant exhibition gives visitors a rare opportunity to peer into that underground world.

The display includes eight nest units made of aerated concrete, each with one glass-facing side that allows guests to observe the colony’s daily life. You can see ants moving larvae, collecting seeds and maintaining their carefully organized society. Over time, however, the ants began to redecorate.

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Historic research from the 80s and 90s now available online

Jared

Written by: Dorothy Field, Heritage Survey Program Coordinator and Ron Kelland, Historic Places Research Officer

The Alberta Heritage Survey Program is happy to announce that digitized versions of eight additional Occasional Papers, published by the Historic Sites Service between 1985 and 1992, are now available online via the Alberta Open Government Portal.

In June 2025, the first 15 Occasional Papers were made available online. With the release of these remaining eight, the entirety of the original Historic Sites Service Occasional Papers is now accessible online.

The Occasional Papers series was started in 1976 to make Albertans, historians and heritage professionals better aware of certain themes in Alberta’s history and built heritage. Similar to the Archaeological Survey of Alberta’s Occasional Papers, popularly known as the “Blue Books” or the “Blue Series,” the Historic Sites Service Occasional Papers series were produced by staff historians and contractors based on their in-house research done to support the development and interpretation of Alberta’s historic sites.

The Radway Livery Barn, Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. Built in 1928, it was acquired by the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village in 1978 as one of the province’s last extant examples of a livery barn. Historic Sites Service historian Peter Melnycky’s research about the barn was published as Occasional Paper No. 18. Source: Conservation and Construction Services.
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The Adult Educator: Tatanga Mani’s Story of Survival and Strength

The Adult Educator: Tatanga Mani’s Story of Survival and Strength

Jared

Editor’s note: Aba Wathtech. June is National Indigenous History Month, an invitation to honour the history, diversity, strength and contemporary achievements of Indigenous Peoples.

The banner image above features Walking Buffalo, Stoney, at Calgary Exhibition and Stampede grounds, Calgary, Alberta, unknown date, (CU189040) by Oliver, W. J. Source: Glenbow Library and Archives, Glenbow Archives, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.

Reading residential school histories can be a painful process. If reading this is causing pain or bringing back distressing memories, please call the Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. The Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day and can also provide information on other health supports provided by the Health Canada Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program.

Written by: Laura Golebiowski, Indigenous Consultation Adviser, in collaboration with the Stoney Nakoda Nations

When Tatanga Mani was a small boy, he went by the name of Little Bear. He grew up under the protection of his maternal and paternal grandmothers and the sheltered forests of the Bow Valley. The Stoney Nakoda (contemporarily the Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations) lived in small familial groups, hunting buffalo, moose, deer and goat. Wild carrot, wild rhubarb and sour grass were harvested from the mountains. Sweet tree sap was harvested and boiled in the springtime and cranberries, huckleberries, chickenberries and chokecherries were harvested through the summer. In the winter, groups would gather together in the valley flats of what is now Banff National Park. By Tatanga Mani’s own recollections, life was simple and happy:

In my young days, [there were] no roads, no horses. One time I remember there was five in a family. I would be about five years old. There’s my grandmother, my uncle Ben Kaquitts, there’s another uncle, and one aunt…and just one horse, to travel around with. And one dog. And I always remembered that that time, that [we were] the poorest people…but at that time we didn’t notice at all, we still lived contented and happy. We didn’t worry about nothing.

For Stoney children born one generation prior, their education was informal but holistic, grounded in respect and reciprocity. Nature was the teacher. Per Chief John Snow in These Mountains are Our Sacred Places, “A child would grow up learning about nature and the importance of respecting all things in creation…It was an ongoing educational process about religion, life, hunting, and so on. Other topics were bravery, courage, kindness, sharing, [and] survival…”

But by the 1870s when Tatanga Mani was born, Methodist missionaries had established their foothold in Stoney Nakoda territory. Despite having an extended family and community who loved and cared for him, Tatanga Mani was adopted by Methodist missionary John McLean. He was assigned the name George McLean and forced to attend the McDougall Orphanage at Mînî Thnî. (The “Orphanage” was a misnomer, per Chief John Snow: “The reason for the name is not clear; my people’s extended family system made the use of European-style orphanages unnecessary and records suggest that many children in the institution certainly had parents who were willing and able to care for them.”).

“Teachers and pupils, McDougall orphanage, Morley, Alberta.”, 1885, (CU184411) by Thom, A. B.. Tatanga Mani has been identified as the third from the left child in the second-last row. Source: Glenbow Library and Archives, Glenbow Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
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