P. H. Bryce

“ Restrained through diplomacy, force and the interests of trade by the great fur-trading companies, the widely distributed and wandering bands of Indians would still have been savages, had it not been for the heroic devotion of those missionaries who, attaching themselves to some band, moved with it in its wanderings, or travelled from post to post where the Indians were assembled while bartering their furs. ”

“ The cost of those institutions is larger, it is thought, than that for which they might be conducted, and with a view to more economical management it is advisable and necessary to adopt some method which would relieve the pressure of the present expenditure and at the same time keep up the schools to an equal standard of efficiency and usefulness.’
‘The minister considers that when the whole cost of an institution is directly borne by the government the same economy by those in immediate charge is not used as would be employed under other conditions. ”

“ The influence of a good master and spiritual adviser follows him, the pupil, to the reserve, where he is encouraged and directed in establishing himself in his future occupation on the reserve. The usually smaller schools, less complex in their organization, possess more of the elements of the family life of a home, and necessarily the influence of the principal, matron and staff is greater in the degree that their personality enters into the life of the pupil. ”

“ The evolution of schools amongst the Indian population of the Northwest naturally begins with the efforts of the early missionaries to obtain an influence over the Indians through the education and guidance of the children. ”

“ Where, however, the poor Indian has been brought face to face with polemics and settlements are divided, or think they are divided, on metaphysical niceties, the school should be, as at the White Earth Agency, Minnesota, undenominational.’ It further advises ‘that, as bands become more amenable to the restraints of civilization, education should be made compulsory.’ Also that ‘the character of the teacher, morally and intellectually, is a matter of vital importance; if he is morally weak, whatever his intellectual qualifications may be, he is worse than no teacher at all ”

“ The British Methodist Church began its labours by establishing missions on Lake Winnipeg at Norway House and Berens River in 1856, gradually extending westward as far as the Stony reserve in the foothills of the Rockies. The Presbyterian Church, latest in the field, started a mission at Prince Albert in 1867. The stories of hardship and of danger endured by these missionaries of the Cross have been but incidentally told, but the results are shown in the list of missions and of day schools in existence when this enormous territory passed into the hands of the Dominion of Canada in 1870. ”

“ Agricultural and other implements, when considered by the department as being unfit for further use, may be disposed of by the officers of the institution in such manner as may be thought proper by them. The department will agree to provide sufficient grazing land for use of each institution. The department agrees to provide sufficient fencing material for the first inclosure required, but the fences must be renewed at the expense of the institution. Medical attendance as directed by the commissioner for the pupils of each institution will be provided and paid for by the department. ”

“ There appears a memorandum of Sir John A. Macdonald, dated October 19, 1880, fixing the salary of $300 to be given each day school teacher in Manitoba and the Territories. It also states that if the attendance should fall short of 25 in any quarter, the teacher should be paid at a per capita rate of $3 per quarter; in the case of non-denominational schools, it was considered that teachers should be paid a maximum salary of $504, or at the rate of $12 per annum for 42 pupils; if the attendance be short of this number, the teacher should receive $3 per pupil for the quarter. ”

“ That their principals or some members of their establishment, being usually missionaries, are more or less constantly and closely in touch with the parents, whose children are to keep up the supply of pupils, and who, if they be of the right spirit, are constantly cultivating an interest in and sympathy for the school amongst the members of the band, such as is impossible for the principals of industrial schools unassociated with the reserves and long distances from them. ”

“ Payment to be made only for children authorized by the commissioner to be admitted, and in accordance with the scale now governing payments to schools under the per capita system, which may be altered from time to time to suit circumstances, and no children, white or Indian, are to be admitted save under authority of the commissioner. ”

“ On the other hand, there were two or three instances where the knowledge that fresh air or oxygen is life has been positively realized, and where fresh air is allowed to so pour into the dormitories that the air breathed is that of the outer atmosphere. ”

“ Wherever the missionaries have schools, those schools should be utilized by the government if possible; that is to say, a contract should be made with the religious body controlling the school to board, educate and train industrially a certain number of pupils. 2nd. Not more than four industrial schools should be established at first. ”