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Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre

The Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC) is a cross-cultural research and educational project of Algoma University (through the technological and archival expertise of the Arthur A. Wishart Library) and the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association (CSAA), which includes former students of the Residential schools, staff, descendants, family, and friends. Algoma University is located on the site (and uses some of the buildings) of the former Shingwauk and Wawanosh Indian Residential Schools in Sault Ste. Marie. Governance for the SRSC runs through a joint AU/CSAA Heritage Committee, which shares responsibility for the Centre evenly between the two partners.

The partners work together with the Survivor groups, church entities, educators, First Nations and others to research, collect, preserve, and display the history of the residential and day schools across Canada. They also develop and deliver projects of sharing, healing, learning, and individual and community cultural restoration in relation to the impact of the schools. They also work to realize Chief Shingwauk’s vision of cross-cultural synthesis of traditional Anishnabek and European knowledge and learning systems.

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Contact

705-949-2301 ext. 4623

[email protected]

Details

The SRSC is located in room EW 202 of the East Wing of the main Algoma U campus building, off Shingwauk Hall. 

  • Monday-Friday 8 am-4 pm

For research requests, it’s helpful to email or call beforehand to ensure that the materials you wish to look at are available. 

Guided Truth Walks (historic site tour) must be booked a minimum of two weeks in advance using the booking form available above. The walks start at either 9 am or 1 pm. Self-guided walks are available, but please note that staff may not be available to assist.

Archival services, Truth Walks, and services for Survivors and their families are available outside of the hours listed above with an appointment. Truth Walks must be booked two weeks in advance.

With the support of the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association (CSAA) and Algoma University, the history and activities associated with Shingwauk Hall are being gathered under the auspices of the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC), allowing the public to become more aware of the vast history and tradition represented by the Shingwauk buildings and site. The SRSC is a cross-cultural research and educational development project of Algoma U, the CSAA, and the National Residential School Survivor Society.

Shortly after the closure of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School in 1970, and in the early years of Algoma University College’s relocation to the present site, residential school Survivors of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School, their families, communities, and allies, became catalysts in the growing Healing Movement, culminating in the introduction of the original Shingwauk Project in 1979 and the 1981 Shingwauk Reunion. From these watershed events began the decades-long work of collecting, organizing, and displaying photographs and other residential school materials, conducting research, and educating the public that led to the establishment of the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association and the Shingwauk Project, now known as the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, respectively.

As a vast collection of documents chronicling the experiences of residential school Survivors, the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre is one of the important ways we honour the history of our campus. Our staff, faculty, and students are actively involved in the process of collecting and digitizing one of the largest archives of residential school life in all of Canada, thus preserving the heritage of our location.

For more information, please visit the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre’s (SRSC) website.

The SRSC Team