Red Deer Indian Industrial School

Residential Schools have left a lasting damaging history of trauma and accessing archival records and history may be harmful to some people. If you are a Survivor or intergenerational survivor of the Residential School System and would like emotional support, a national crisis line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week:

Residential School Survivor Support Line: 1-866-925-4419

If you are part of the community represented here and have concerns about the access to or ownership of these records, please reach out to us at [email protected] or 403-309-8403. We would like to collaborate with the community for appropriate education and awareness.

Please note that the name “Indian Industrial School” is used throughout this page to reflect the request of the Remembering The Children Society to accurately record the name given to the institution and to identify the children impacted by it.

Red Deer Indian Industrial School (1893-1919)

The Red Deer Indian Industrial School opened as a residential school in 1893 in the District of Alberta, Northwest Territories. It was located west of Red Deer, across the river from Fort Normandeau. It was the first Methodist residential school to operate in the area. While the school was roughly the same size of similar institutions, it was unique in that it was located a significant distance from the Indigenous communities it was supposed to serve, with the nearest reserve being 65 kilometers away.

The school closed in 1919 due to the distance from Indigenous communities and deadly Spanish Flu and smallpox outbreaks. Five years later, the Methodists opened Edmonton (Poundmaker) Residential School. The school site temporarily housed Hebridian settlers (from Scotland) but was otherwise abandoned for years and is now on private property.

Red Deer Archives Records

The Red Deer Archives holds very few records directly from or about the Indian Industrial School. The records we have identified so far containing information about the school are:

• photographs, primarily an album collected by Alfred Hives who worked at the Indian Industrial School and another album found by a cousin of Lawrence Tippie in an antique shop in Fort Scott, Kansas and sent to him because of his connection to Red Deer
• a scribbler found at the site that is from the school’s era
• City Council records discussing the history, people and location of the Indian Industrial School
• some video and audio interviews talking about the school and the site.

We add to this collection as we locate relevant records. You can view our collection here.

Please note that we do not have all our records digitized. So if you are not finding a record you are looking for, or if you have questions or challenges accessing the digitized records, please contact us at [email protected] or 403-309-8403.

Records in Other Collections

There are records located in other archives and collections that can support researchers learning about the school and the site. Links may be added or updated as we identify relevant collections and organizations.

• Remembering the Children Society was formed to identify, honour, and remember the children who attended the school through hosting events and sharing information.
• Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery holds some artefacts from the site and has the story of the school incorporated into the permanent exhibits. You can contact them here.
• United Church of Canada Archives holds the school records, as their church grew out of the Methodist church. The Children Remembered website (created 2010) showcases some images and the story of the school.
• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) contains records from or about the school and from the Truth and Reconciliation Hearing hosted in Red Deer in 2013. View Red Deer School related records here.
• The University of Alberta Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology is assisting organizations and Nations in locating unmarked graves tied to the residential school system across western Canada, along with challenging cultural heritage policies such as through the Uncovered: Truths About Indian Residential Schools series.

Other Support and Further Assistance

If you are a Survivor or intergenerational survivor of the Residential School System and would like emotional support, a national crisis line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week:

Residential School Survivor Support Line: 1-866-925-4419

We know that archives and archival collections can be quite difficult to navigate for many researchers. If you have questions or other challenges accessing our records, please contact us at [email protected] or 403-309-8403 and we will assist you.

If you are part of the community represented here and have concerns about the access to or ownership of these records, please reach out to us. We would like to collaborate with the community for appropriate education and awareness.