Honouring the Truth Reconciling for the Future

The history • 121fact that Indian Affairs officials recognized that the boarding school grant allowed foronly “the bare necessities in the line of food and clothing.” 527Some First Nations leaders who had originally supported residential schools laterpublicly regretted their decision. Chief Napahkesit of the Pine Creek Band in Manitobasaid in 1917 that he was sorry he had ever supported the construction of the PineCreek school. According to the local Indian agent, the chief felt “the children knowless when they come out than they did when they went in.” What was needed, thechief said, was a day school. 528 Calls for day schools were, in fact, a common parentalrequest. 529 A 1949 call from parents for a day school at the Cowessess Reserve eventuallyproved to be successful. 530Parents might also demand the dismissal of a principal. 531 In 1917, to back up theircall for the resignation of the Shoal Lake school principal, parents refused to returntheir children to the school. 532 In this case, the principal did resign. 533 The parents ofthe Kahkewistahaw Band unsuccessfully petitioned the federal government to removea teacher from the Round Lake, Saskatchewan, school in July 1949. They said that “thechildren’s report cards are very unsatisfactory, worst ever received, and she abusesthe children too much. 534 Parents also complained that their children were not learningthe skills they needed to survive. Chief Kejick of the Shoal Lake Band told IndianAffairs officials in 1928 that the students from his reserve “did not know how to makea living when they left school and would like trades taught.” 535 Eight years later, CharlieShingoose of the Waywayseecappo Band sought to have his fifteen-year-old son dischargedfrom the Birtle school so he could teach him to “work, trap, etc.” 536Parents also hired lawyers to press their cases for investigations into the deaths ofchildren who had run away, to complain about the harshness of discipline, to advocateon behalf of children who had been injured working at the schools, and to attemptto have their children discharged from school. 537One of the more unusual protests was mounted by First Nations people (Dene)in the Northwest Territories, who, in 1937, refused to accept their Treaty paymentsin protest of conditions at the Fort Resolution school. Their children, they said, were“living in hell.” 538Residential schools also came under criticism from early First Nations organizations.At its meeting in Saddle Lake, Alberta, in 1931, the League of Indians of Canadacalled for the construction of more day schools to augment residential schools. 539 Thefollowing year, the league, by then known as the League of Indians of Western Canada,called for the closure of boarding schools. 540 The league also recommended that onlyqualified teachers be hired to work at residential schools, that medical examinationsbe given to students before they were sent to the schools, and that the half-day systembe changed to allow for greater class time. 541In an effort to bring their own residential schooling to an end, some studentsattempted to burn their schools down. There were at least thirty-seven such attempts,