Not as envisioned

A quarter century ago, Gordon’s Indian Residential School was the last in Canada to close its doors

- WINONA WHEELER

NESTLED IN THE ROLLING ASPEN parklands of the Touchwood Hills, George Gordon First Nation is about 10 kilometres south of Punnichy, Sask., in Treaty 4 territory. The community was originally founded by Chief Ka-newo-kwaskwatew (George Gordon) and our late great-great-grandfather, Askenootow (Charles Pratt) — who in the 1850s worked for the Anglican Church Mission Society as a lay reader, catechist and school teacher. Pratt built the first day school there in the early 1870s; it was later incorporated into the reserve in 1876. In 1888, this day school became Gordon’s Indian Residential School — the longest-running residential school in Canada. In 1996, 25 years ago, it was the last residential school to close down.

The federal government enlarged the building that Pratt had built and converted it into a boarding school in 1888, before moving the site to its current location in 1895. Over the years, despite a fire in 1929, the school grew to include a big brick building with classrooms and a dormitory, horse and cattle barns, poultry and laundry buildings, and staff residences. In 1911, the maintenance and management of the school was handed over to the Anglican church, and it remained under its authority until 1969, when the Indian Depart- ment resumed direct responsibility. In time, additional buildings were erected: a new classroom block with a basement auditorium and an addi- tional block with a gymnasium in 1965. The school also boasted a hockey arena and large sports field.