CANADA
CBC News
By Trisha Estabrooks
More than five decades after the last residential school in St. Albert closed its doors, a new plan is in the works to remember the city’s sometimes-painful past.
There were once two residential schools in what is now St. Albert:
* The Edmonton Indian Residential School (1919-1960), which was originally run by the Methodists and later by the United Church, and
* St. Albert’s Indian Residential School (1941-1948) was run by the Roman Catholics
Both buildings were destroyed by fire and no longer exist.
Now, St. Albert United Church minister James Ravenscroft and well-known aboriginal activist Maggie Hodgson want to create ‘a healing garden’ to commemorate the children who were forced to attend the faith-based organizations.
The story of residential schools in St. Albert’s is not well-told, they said. In fact, many people are often shocked to hear that St. Albert even had residential schools, said Ravenscroft.
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