Washakada Indian Home (Elkhorn, Man.)

• 888 Rev. Edward F. Wilson opens Washakada Indian Home July 1st. Government provides $100 per capita grant. Eight pupils are enrolled but four become run aways.
• 1891 School expands with opening of Kasota Boys’ Home. Original building becomes Washakada Girls’ Home. Each has capacity for 35 boarders.
• 1891 Ownership and management of school is transferred from Rev. Wilson to Indian Affairs Dept.
• 1895 Nov. 13 Fire destroys most school buildings. Boys’ Home is saved. Temporary buildings quickly leased in town to enable school to continue operating.
• 1899 Sept. 7 Elkhorn Indian Industrial School reopens on new site south and west of town. Capacity is 100 with 15 staff. School lands total 320 acres, with large tract set aside for farming which soon begins in earnest.
• 1915 Enrolment reaches peak of 122 pupils with average attendance of 96. Both figures will fall sharply in the following three years and financial situation will worsen.
• 1917 Enrolment is 78 pupils with average attendance of 42. School becomes the most expensive to operate in Canada, with an actual per capita operating cost of $220.
• 1918 May 1 School is closed by government and property transferred in 1919 to the Soldiers Settlement Board as a training centre.
• 1921 April Indian Affairs regains title to the property and makes plans to reopen the residential school. Repairs and upgrades are made to the buildings.
• 1923 Following agreement made with the government in 1922, the Indian and Eskimo Commission of MSCC takes over the operation of the school. Elkhorn Indian Residential School opens in September with enrolment of 129 pupils, a large proportion being orphaned and destitute Indian children.
• 1930s-1940s School building deteriorates and complaints from parents increase over care of children. During this period, the school is not under the direct supervision of the Indian Agent.
• 1949 June 30 School is permanently closed and property transferred to the government’s Lands and Development Services Branch for redevelopment. Property is soon subdivided and sold to private interests for housing and farming

Compiled by General Synod Archives, September 23, 2008.