The Project
St. Dunstan’s Calgary Indian Industrial School, Calgary, Alberta.”, [ca. 1905], (CU11056821) by unknown. Courtesy of Glenbow Library and Archives Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary.
The St. Dunstan’s Indian Industrial School Memorial Public Art Project is a multi-phase, Indigenous-led public art initiative that honours the children and families connected to the St. Dunstan’s Indian Industrial School in Calgary. The memorial project was initiated to ensure that the site, and the stories surrounding it, are acknowledged, protected and honoured through an Indigenous-led public art process.
The goals are to acknowledge the school and honour the students, share accurate historical information, and provide a space for truth-telling, education and remembrance through public art. Guided by Elders, Knowledge Keepers and families of students who attended the school, the project is moving at the speed of relationships and trust, allowing time to ensure that all decisions reflect the voices and protocols of the people most impacted.
Calgary Arts Development’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation is reflected in our approach to supporting Indigenous-led public art processes that centre Indigenous voices and long-term stewardship of significant sites.
This project also aligns with the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, The City of Calgary’s White Goose Flying Report, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and local commitments to memorialize Indigenous histories and burial sites within Calgary.
Engagement
Calgary Arts Development’s Public Art project team began work on the St. Dunstan’s Indian Industrial School Memorial Public Art Project in January 2024. Since then, Calgary Arts Development has engaged in conversations with City of Calgary departments whose projects have impacted the original school site, begun gathering archival information on the history of the site, and formed a project Steering Committee that includes Knowledge Holders, specialized professionals and descendants of school attendees from each of the Treaty 7 First Nations and the Métis Nation. The Steering Committee’s work will inform the next phases of the memorial project, alongside upcoming broader community engagement. Updates will be shared through the Calgary Arts Development newsletter.
If you have any questions or would like more information about the project, please contact project leads Tamara Cardinal at tamara.cardinal@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or Jared Tailfeathers at jared.tailfeathers@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.
Background/History
Sources: Information about the St. Dunstan’s Indian Industrial School and related memorial project is drawn from City of Calgary archives, the White Goose Flying Report, as well as internal Calgary Arts Development and project partner documents.
Between 1896 and 1907, the St. Dunstan’s Indian Industrial School operated as an Anglican-run institution for Indigenous boys aged 10 to 18. It stood near what is now Deerfoot Trail and Glenmore Trail, on land first transferred from the City of Calgary to the Church of England, then to the federal government of Canada. The school was part of a network of industrial institutions across Canada created to assimilate Indigenous youth into Euro-Canadian culture through trade labour and Christian education.
The school was intended to accommodate 40 students, though enrolment fluctuated and reached a peak of 46 in its early years. Boys from the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani and Tsuut’ina Nations attended, along with a few students whose specific Nations are not yet known. Calgary Arts Development continues to work with researchers, archivists and community members to build a more complete understanding of who attended the school, including students whose Nations may not be reflected in the current records. Daily routines combined academic instruction with half-days of industrial labour — farming, carpentry and maintenance work — designed to train students to conform to settler society.
Illness, poor conditions and overwork led to high mortality rates among students. In 1899, 17-year-old Jack White Goose Flying (Piikani Nation) died of tuberculosis while attending the school. His grave was first located on a hill overlooking the school grounds and later reinterred at Queen’s Park Cemetery in 1971. The City’s White Goose Flying Report is named in his honour, symbolizing both loss and remembrance.
The school closed in 1907 due to declining enrolment and health crises. Afterward, the land passed through several uses: military training grounds during the First World War, agricultural operations under Senator Patrick Burns, flood stockpiling and, in recent decades, City infrastructure projects including the Green Line LRT and the New Bonnybrook Outfall Project.
Today, the original 292 acres of school-owned land remains a complex and layered site. It includes remnants of the original school foundations, the surrounding industrial area and areas of cultural and ecological significance near the Bow River. Indigenous Nations, researchers and City departments continue to coordinate on archeological considerations and cultural stewardship.
Through public art, the St. Dunstan’s Indian Industrial School Memorial Public Art Project brings together documentation, shared stories and ongoing engagement to support truth-telling and acknowledge the school’s historical significance and the ongoing colonial legacy it represents.