Fonds

The St. John's Indian Residential School operated in Chapleau, Ontario from 1907-1948. The original residential school in Chapleau was operated by the Anglican Diocese of Moosonee from 1907 to 1920. In 1920 the school's administration was taken over by the Department of Indian Affairs. The school was built to accommodate 40 students, and in 1919 it was expanded to accommodate 45 students. The residential school was located on 153 acres on the east side of Chapleau near the Nebskwashi River. This original school building burned down on June 27, 1926. The original Residential School site in Chapleau was never developed and is now part of the forest.

In 1914 a new location of 1,184 acres was bought from the Ontario government for one dollar an acre. However, the new location was far from the town of Chapleau and did not have convenient road access. In 1920 a new 2,142 acre site, closer to town, was purchased.The new two-storey school building designed to accommodate 100 students was built at a cost of $89,000. The school operated at capacity until it closed on July 1, 1948. Many students were transferred to the Shingwauk Indian Residential School or the Moose Factory Indian Residential School. The school property was purchased by Nick Gionet for $7,000 in 1948 and eventually all of the school buildings were demolished, this site is now a small residential subdivision.

The Anglican Church of Canada established a day school on Gordon’s Reserve just north of Regina, in 1876. In 1888, it was expanded to provide housing to students attending the School. In 1929 the original School building was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt, but problems with water supply and maintenance led to its being closed for much of the time between 1947 and 1953.

Apart from the local children from Gordon’s Reserve, students attended the School from a wide area in Saskatchewan, with Gordon's often acting as the overflow School from other Residential Schools. In 1969, the government took full control over the school from the Anglican church, and continued to operate as a residential school until its closure in 1996. The Gordon Residential School was the last school to be closed in Canada. The School building was subsequently torn down after its closure.

Alanna Frances Rose Bondar, PhD (1968-2014) was a well known eco-feminist poet and tenured professor at Algoma University. She was recognized by her academic peers as a cutting edge researcher and scholar in the emerging genre of literary eco-criticism; which revisions our connections within biotic communities.  Bondar was the daughter of Aldona and Arthur Bondar. 

Bondar received her Ph.D. in English from Memorial University of Newfoundland (2003); and her MA in English and Creative Writing from the University of New Brunswick, where her advisor was the Governor-General’s Award and Griffin Poetry Prize winning poet and writer, Dr. Don McKay. Her undergraduate degree was from Western University. 

Bondar’s Ph. D. dissertation is entitled "Greening the green space: exploring the emergence of Canadian ecological literature through ecofeminist and ecocritical perspectives". Her areas of teaching included 20th century literature and critical theory; Canadian literature; American Literature; 20th Century Poetry; Magic(al) Realism; Gothic Literature and theory; Minority Writing; Women's Literature; Art and Text; Film and film theory; Creative Writing, and others. Each year Bondar’s students prepared the Algoma University’s only ongoing journal, Algoma Ink, from conception to finished product under her supervision. 

In 2012, Bondar launched her first full length prose poetry monograph, "There are many ways to die while travelling in Peru" (Your Scrivener Press, 2011), before a full house at the Art Gallery of Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.  She as a founding member of The Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada (ALECC).

Elizabeth ("Betty") Buchanan received her Masters and PhD from McMaster University. Her work focuses on kinship ties, community, and rural life in Northern Ontario. She lived much of her life in Dayton, Ontario - a rural farming community in Huron Shores, Township. Buchanan was involved in a number of local organizations including the Iron Bridge Historical Museum Committee. It should also be noted here that her maiden name was Sills, which is the name her thesis was published under. Within the fonds she uses both names interchangeably depending on the time period.