Petitioning by itself had only limited effect. When twelve parents of children in the Round Lake school complained of abusive discipline by staff, the principal was inclined to believe 'that the complaint did not stand investigation, although he thought it was possible that Mr. And Mrs. Ledingham, because of being overworked during an epidemic of measles, may have on some occasions been more severe than was judicious.'

      Petitions that called for the replacement of the residential school by a day school, whether of a different denomination or not, were akin to another category of resistance many Native groups employed: efforts to withhold students from the institutions. From the earliest days of the modern residential school. Indian parents responded to adverse experiences by declining to cooperate further with the new institutions.

      A particular source of grievance to parents that might cause them to withhold their children was sickness and mortality at the schools. In 1905, Regina was in bad odour with parents for many reasons. It was distant, run by an unpopular principal, had a reputation for overworking the children, and experienced a lot of sickness and death among the students. A meeting with a group of parents in the chief's house on Muscowpetung reserve resulted in a list of reasons that explained why, although all wanted education for their children, 'some graduates absolutely refuse to send their children from home any more':

            (a) The secrecy observed by most schools as to sickness among                   the pupils.

            (b) The use of the pupils for work about the farm and the school                   when they should be in the classroom.

            (c) The breaking up of their home circle.