S-161 conventionDeclaration detailLevel http://ica-atom.org/doc/RS-2#5.4 Partial Non-IRSSA School Moravian Church History: Procter, Andrea. 2020. [A Long Journey: Residential Schools in Labrador and Newfoundland](https://memorialuniversitypress.ca/Books/A/A-Long-Journey). St. John’s: ISER/Memorial University Press. Makkovik Residential School conventionDeclaration Makkovik Boarding School conventionDeclaration 1914-1960 Makkovik, Labrador

School history courtesy of [A Long Journey: Residential Schools in Labrador and Newfoundland](https://memorialuniversitypress.ca/Books/A/A-Long-Journey) *

In 1898, after the establishment of the Moravian Mission at Makkovik, a school was established to serve the children of the English-speaking families (settlers). Before 1920, the students would board in a local chapel servant’s house or in the Mission house itself. Once the boarding school was completed and staffed, settler children from surrounding communities and even as far north as Nain were sent to Makkovik to be taught in English. To encourage settlers to send their children to the school in Makkovik, the settler schools in other Moravian communities were shuttered. Because of the school’s settler focus, the teachers did not have to learn Inuktitut, which made communication with Inuit students difficult.

On January 28, 1948, fire ripped through the Makkovik Mission buildings leaving only parts of the dormitory standing. Members of the Makkovik congregation dismantled the church at Ailik and rebuilt it in the community. A storehouse was renovated and used as a temporary school. School started again in September 1948.

Subjects taught at the school included academic topics like reading, writing and arithmetic and practical skills like sawing and splitting firewood and sewing and knitting. Students were also expected to complete chores and stick to a regimented schedule while attending boarding school.

Makkovik was the largest boarding school on the north coast for many years. However, even with compulsory school attendance being mandated in 1942, many parents chose not to send their children to school for a variety of reasons. Some felt the school fees were too expensive and some parents did not require their children to attend school after they learned to read and write.

The Moravian missionaries saw the tolerant parenting approach of Inuit parents as an obstacle to their efforts. This often caused frustration for school teachers and resulted in efforts to force parents to send their children away to Makkovik for school, separated from parental influence.

Food was a source of much difficulty for Indigenous students at Makkovik Boarding School. The institutionalized food and rigid meal schedule resulted in a difficult process of adjustment to being away from home. Food was also used as a form of discipline with instances of staff force feeding students or depriving students of food to enforce rules.

Another issue was the lack of an adequate amount of food at the boarding school. Though the missionaries always reported that the children were fed well, many have memories of not having enough food. This was due to a lack of adequate funding at times in the early years of the school. In the later years of the school, students often did not recall being hungry.

Bullying was common at Makkovik Boarding School, with those in positions of power or authority facing little accountability for their actions. That lack of accountability also contributed to many students fearing reprisals for reporting bullying. This led to students rarely having anyone they could turn to for help.

Today the school is a museum dedicated to the history of the community, and is known as The White Elephant.

Note the boarding school in Makkovik closed in 1955 but a day school remained operational.

Only time frame after Confederation with Canada (April 1, 1949) included in Newfoundland and Labrador residential schools Settlement Agreement.

Newfoundland and Labrador