page_title: Spanish, Ontario
section_title: Residential Schools
hierarchical_section_title: Spanish, Ontario / History / Residential Schools
caption_attribution_description: English: Remains of the St. Joseph Residential School, Spanish, Ontario, Canada
context_page_description: Spanish is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on Trans-Canada Highway 17 in the Algoma District near the border of the Sudbury District. Formerly known as the Township of Shedden, the municipality adopted its current status and name in 2004, taking the name of its largest community.
  The Town of Spanish is situated at the mouth of the Spanish River where it empties into the North Channel of Lake Huron. This river and its ecologically rich delta have had a positive impact on the development of the community of Spanish. The river has played an important and continuous role in the local economy from the days of the fur trade, through the timbering era, and now contributes to the tourism industry.
context_section_description: The earliest version of the Spanish Indian Residential Schools was originally a log cabin in Wiikwemkoong, Manitoulin Island from 1850–1911. It was a day school for Native boys. Father Proulx was the first priest. In 1860 the Jesuit Priests managed the school. The old school burned down and a new site was chosen, 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) were purchased at the mouth of the Spanish River. Reverend Joseph Sauve and Father Paquin undertook to build, design and supervise construction. In the fall of 1913 the school commenced. Boys from as far as Manitoba and as close as Cutler (Serpent River First Nations) attended the school.
  A shoe-maker shop and a pump house were built. Self-sufficient dormitories, classrooms, several lavatories, kitchen, a scullery, pantry, refrigerated area, corridors, offices, cloistered area, laundry room, infirmary, bakery and tailor shop were housed in the school. In 1981 a chapel was added. Near the school stood a wind mill powerhouse and shoe shop, a mill and a storage for milled products, a huge barn which held cows, several horse teams, a bull, a dairy operation and a blacksmith shop, a piggery and sheepery, a chicken coop and a garden. At the wharf was a 30-foot (9.1 m) cruiser named the Garnier and a vessel called Red Bug were tied up.
  Likewise in Wiikwemkoong a Native School for girls was located. It was run by the Daughters of the Heart of Mary from 1862–1914. The log cabin burned down in 1916 and was relocated opposite the boys school in Spanish. Both schools were funded by the Federal Government. The Indian Act stated that "Indians can attend a residential school if an Indian Day School is not available to them within a three mile (5 km) radius." Children from broken homes and where home conditions were not the best were also sent to be enrolled into the schools.
  The Daughters of the Heart of Saint Mary was an organization formed by and idea from a young French woman who hoped for a life of religion to a woman whose responsibilities kept them in the world. This idea occurred to a Jesuit priest when the woman approached him during the French Revolution. The Society was founded in 1790 and was forced to go underground. The society came to Canada 100 years ago to work among the natives in Ontario.
  In 1981 the building which was the former "Girls School" burned down and the "Boys School" was demolished in 2004. The shell of the "Girls School" still remains as a witness to history.
caption: Remains of the residential school in 2008.
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