Crowfoot Indian Residential School (IRS) was located at Blackfoot Crossing from 1900 - 1909 then on the Blackfoot Reserve near Cluny from June 14, 1909. The residential school operated from 1900 - 1968 (68 years), officially closing on December 31, 1968.
Other names identifying the residential school include St. Joseph Residential School, St. Joseph (Crowfoot) School, Roman Catholic Indian Boarding School on the Crowfoot Reserve, Crowfoot Boarding School, and Crowfoot Indian Residential School (no dates identified).
The Government of Canada was responsible for funding, which was managed and operated by the church (church affiliation not specified but Roman Catholic) from January 25, 1900 - March 31, 1969. The residence closed on December 31, 1968, but the school continued to operate as a day school.
In 1911, a School Operating agreement was signed between His Majesty, the King, represented by the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs of Canada, and Bishop Emile J. Legal, Bishop of the Diocese of St. Albert.
In 1962, a School Operating agreement was signed between Her Majesty the Queen in the right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and INDIANESCOM.
Minimal information regarding which grades were available at the residential school to include the following:
1919 - Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4 1950 - Blackfoot Indian day school operates as part of the IRS. 1951 - Grades 9, 10, and 11 added. 1960 - Grade 12 operating at the residential school. 1967 - Grades 10, 11, and 12 discontinued. 1968 - Residence building closed as a dormitory. Pupils requiring residence facilities are boarded on reserve in homes, and the school continues in operation as a day school, grades K- 9.
Students included ten from the Peigan reserve.
Student enrolment statistics at the residential school are inconsistent with a low of 5 in 1900 to a high of 196 students in 1961.
Enrolment statistics indicate day school students starting in 1949 – 1968.
The residential school instituted an integrated education program with local schools 1947 - 2 students attend Cluny High School; 2 in Gleichen High School. 1958 - 16 students in the integrated education program. 1962 - 123 students in the integrated education program. 1966 - 100 places purchased for Indian students at Strathmore High School. 1968 - 141 spaces contracted with Wheatland County; 50 spaces with Newell County; 85 spaces with Vulcan County
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