Folder 2055007 - Cadet Corps & Band

St. Mary’s (Kenora) Indian Residential School (IRS) was located two miles south of the town of Rat Portage on the shore of the Lake of the Woods adjoining the Kenora Indian Reserve. The IRS was in operation from 1897 - 1972 (75 years) and officially closed on June 30, 1972.

Other names identifying the school include Rat Portage Boarding School (1897 - 1905), Kenora Boarding School / Kenora Indian Industrial School (1906 - 1923), Kenora Indian Residential School / Kenora Roman Catholic Indian Residential School (1924 - 1964), St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic School (1931 - 1933), St. Mary’s Indian Residential School (1937 - 1978), St. Mary’s Industrial School / St. Mary’s Indian School (1938), and St. Mary’s Student Residence (1968 - 1972).

Effective September 1, 1968, the administration of the residence and the classrooms were separated, and the Administrator managed the residence. The IRS became St. Mary’s (Kenora) Student Residence. Please note that while several documents refer to St. Mary’s IRS, the residential school’s official name was the Kenora IRS. The name St. Mary’s was often used by the federal government and IRS staff to avoid confusion with Cecilia Jeffrey IRS, which was also located in Kenora.

The Government of Canada was responsible for funding the school, which was managed and operated by the Roman Catholic Church through its affiliates, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and later the Oblate Indian and Eskimo Commission (INDIANESCOM) from 1897 - 1969. The Grey Nuns (1898 - 1930) and the Sisters of St. Joseph (1930 - 1972) provided assistance and support at the IRS. On March 14, 1911, the federal government signed an agreement with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate for the management and operation of the IRS. On September 25, 1962, the federal government signed an agreement with the Oblate Indian and Eskimo Commission (INDIANESCOM) for the IRS’s management and operation. On April 1, 1969, the federal government assumed full responsibility for the management and maintenance
of the IRS. On September 1, 1969, the federal government signed a contract with the Roman Catholic Parish of Notre Dame du Portage for chaplaincy services for the 1969-1970 school year.

Grades taught at the IRS include primary (1, 2, 3) and elementary (4, 5, 6) from 1897 - 1968 with junior high (7, 8, 9) from 1938 - 1964 and high school (10, 11, 12) from 1953 - 1960 and kindergarten from 1952 - 1958 and primary only in the last year (1971/72). Information is missing for the years 1939/40 and 1968/71. Students from the IRS attended local schools in Kenora - 1964/65 and 1965/66 at Mount Carmel School (grades 5 - 8); 1965/66 at Lakewood High School (grades 9 - 10) and Beaver Brae Secondary School (grades 9 - 10); and 1971/72 at Mount Carmel School (4 - 8) and Thomas Aquinas (grades 4 - 8). They also attended Father Moss School (grades not specified) in Sioux Narrows.

Student enrolment at the IRS totalled 6,114+ (2 years of enrollment statistics missing) students with a steady increase in enrollment from a low of 29 in its first year, 1897/98, to a high of 140 in 1956/57 when enrolment started to decline. The IRS also had day scholars for 14 years from 1954 to 1968, with a total enrolment of 81 students with no students from 1964 - 1967.