Chief Shingwauk (also known as Shingwaukonse) rose to prominence fighting in the war of 1812. Between 1827 and 1854 he developed a strategy of Aboriginal rights and self-determination which envisaged a sharing of resources with European colonists and a synthesis of traditional Ojibway and European knowledge through 'Teaching Wigwams.'
In 1832 Shingwauk traveled to York to petition Lieutenant Governor Colborne for teacher to bring European-style education to Garden River. As a result of this petitioning a Rev. William McMurray was appointed as an Anglican missionary teacher and in 1833 the first schoolhouse was built at the top of Pim Hill in 1833. Shingwauk passed away in 1854 but his vision was carried on by his sons Augustin (1800-1890), Buhkwujjenene (1811-1900), John Askin (1836-1919) and George Menissino (1839-1923).
In 1871 Rev. Edward Francis Wilson settled in Garden River and collaborated with Chiefs Augustin Shingwauk and Buhkwujjenene to raise funds in support of a school. With the combined effort of Shingwauk's sons, Augustine and Buhgwujjenene, and Rev. E.F. Wilson, this dream came a reality. A school was built at Garden River in 1873. However six days after opening the school burned to the ground. Not giving in to misfortune another school was erected at the present site on Queen St. East in Sault Ste Marie in 1874. The cornerstone for the second Shingwauk Home was laid by the Earl of Dufferin, the Governor-General of Canada, in the summer of 1874. In August 1875, the new building was officially opened to fifty pupils.
Sixty years later, in 1935, a third building was erected directly behind the old one and the previous building was demolished. This new building was the home of the Shingwauk Residential School until its closure in 1970. It now houses Algoma University.
Principals of the Shingwauk Indian Residential School include: Rev. Edward Francis Wilson (1873-1892), Rev. James Irvine (1892-1894), James Lawler (1894-1985), George Ley King (1895-1906), Rev. Benjamin P. Fuller (1906-1929), Rev. C.F. Hives (1929-1941), Rev. Arthur E. Minchin (1941-1948), Rev. D.I. Wickenden (1948-1954), Rev. Roy Philips (1954-1966), David Lawson (1966-1967), Allan Wheatley (1967-1968), Rev. Noel Goater (1968-1970).
