Students
First
Nations' Students
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Early
Students of St. Ann's Academy 1870's
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hen
Bishop Demers had requested that the Sisters establish a school
in Victoria, he had envisioned that a mission school would be established,
to educate the Metis and First Nations children, in particular.
These boys and girls would be taught reading, writing, math and
science, along with Christian Doctrine.
The Student
Register, written in French in the early years, lists Les
Indiens amongst the pupils, and as the school continued to
operate, First Nations girls came from the Cowichan Valley, north
of Victoria on Vancouver Island, to board at the Academy. Pupils
on a band list had their tuition paid by the government, including
their uniforms and expenses; the official encouragement to attend
the Academy continued into the final years of the schools
operation. The girls at the school forged strong friendships, and
the Sisters often point out the lack of racism and segregation amongst
the students.
There were
less tolerant times, in the past of Victoria and the Academy. In
1859, the Select School was opened, for the instruction of the white
pupils. A small number of students of colour were instructed at
the Day School. This regrettable segregation ended only months later,
when the Day School was shut down by the Sisters, who had set out
to accept everyone who desired an education equally. The issue of
First Nations students in schools set up by the colonial government
is a topic that has been addressed by a number of authors, included
in our bibliography.
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