Prior to the establishment of the residential school in Spanish, Ontario the Jesuits operated a day school at Wiikwemkoong First Nation beginning in 1838. In 1862 the Wikwemikong Industrial School, Girls' Department opened. In 1878 the corresponding Boys' Department was opened by the Jesuits with assistance from the Canadian government. In 1883, the director Reverend Regis Beaudin wrote to the ministry of Indian affairs with an update of students performance and of the death of 3 boys in 1882. In 1885 both schools were destroyed by fire and subsequently rebuilt. The Canadian government approved the Wikimikong School for funding through the residential school system in 1884. The reason the decision was made to move the boys school to Spanish was there was a ”strike” by the native workers. They were asking for two dollars a day for their labour. Instead of giving in or negotiating, the Jesuits decided to move the school to Spanish.
Relocation to Spanish
In 1913 the girls school at Wikwemikong burned down. At the same time a decision was made to move the boys school to Spanish, Ontario as it was believed that there would be increased access to the school in Spanish given its location near the railroad. The fire at the girls school resulted in the relocation of both schools in Spanish in 1913.
St. Peter Claver School
The St. Peter Claver School for Boys in Spanish, Ontario was the only residential school in Canada operated by the Jesuit order. The school consisted of a large three story stone building. The school also had out buildings including a barn, stable, machine sheds, saw mill, and storage buildings. The school was located on a 600-acre site on the North Shore of Lake Huron. The school housed 180 boys. Combined with the girls school the Spanish schools were the largest residential school in Ontario.
St. Joseph's School
Following the relocation of the St. Joseph's School For Girls to Spanish the school continued to be operated by the Daughters of the Heart of Mary. The school was located on 400 acres of land next to the St. Peter Claver School. The St. Joseph school was the only residential school operated by the Daughters order. At the time of the boys school transferred to Spanish, Ontario the girls school was not completed. The actual opening date of the new school was circa 1914. The Spanish Indian Residential School for Girls, also known as St. Joseph closed on June 30, 1962. In 1981 the Girls School building was ravaged by fire. However the shell of this building still stands in Spanish, Ontario.
Garnier High School
The Garnier High School established in 1947 was operated out of the boys school. The school was commonly referred to as Garnier College. The name Garnier was chosen in honour of one of the Canadian Martyrs. For administrative purposes the schools were considered one and operated under the name Spanish Indian Residential School. The Spanish schools were all closed by 1965 and the Garnier build was demolished in 2004. School land of the boys, girls, and Garnier Schools were never owned by the Canadian Government. Throughout the school operation the schools were owned by the Jesuits Fathers, the Sisters of St. Joseph at Spanish, and the Daughters of the Heart of Mary.
Student Experience
Many students came to the residential schools in Spanish, Ontario from Indigenous communities on Manitoulin Island, the shore of Lake Huron, and the shore of Lake Superior. Students also came from the regions around Parry Sound, Ottawa Valley, Marathon, Chapleau, Temagami, New Liskeard. There were also students from out of province at the schools including children from Northern Quebec, Akwesanse, Kahnawake, Kanestake, and Nelson House. Students who attended the St. Joseph's School for girls have spoken about the abuse, neglect, and the removal of individual identities which occurred at the school. As part of the assimilation at the school many of the nuns who operated the school only referred to the students by their assigned numbers and would not use the students' names. The students at the Spanish schools would have been required to work on the subsistence farm operated by the school. Parents of students at the schools complained about the quality and nutritional value of the meals being fed to the children. Author Basil H. Johnston wrote extensively about his experience at the Spanish residential schools in his 1988 book Indian School Days. Indigenous activist and founding member of the National Indian Brotherhood, Wilmer Nadjiwon, spoke publicly about his mistreatment and the repeated sexual abuse he experienced at the St. Peter Claver Residential School.
Commemoration
The first residential school reunion connected to the Spanish residential schools occurred in 1988. In 2009 a monument was erected to remember the students of the Spanish Schools. Beginning in 2010 artist Stacy Sauve began covering a tree across from the St. Joseph school site as a form of memorial. The tree includes two elders and a thunderbird.
