Healing Garden planned to remember residential schools in St. Albert

More than five decades after the last residential school in St. Albert closed its doors, a new plan is in the works to remember the citys sometimes-painful past.

There were once two residential schools in what is now St. Albert:

• The Edmonton Indian Residential School (1919-1960), which was originally run by the Methodists and later by the United Church, and
• St. Alberts Indian Residential School (1941-1948) was run by the Roman Catholics

Both buildings were destroyed by fire and no longer exist.

Now, St. Albert United Church minister James Ravenscroft and well-known aboriginal activist Maggie Hodgson want to create a healing garden to commemorate the children who were forced to attend the faith-based organizations.

The story of residential schools in St. Alberts is not well-told, they said. In fact, many people are often shocked to hear that St. Albert even had residential schools, said Ravenscroft.

They dont know any of that history hardly at all, and we need to tell that story, he said. And the garden, my hope, will be a conversation starter about that history.

Advocates campaign for garden to be added to historical walk

As a United Church minister, I believe its very important that the United Church not just face its past, but make concrete actions of walking in a new direction, Ravenscroft said.

As a first step, Ravenscroft and Hodgson say the schools omission from the citys Founders Walk, a paved path that details the history of St. Albert, should be corrected.

The Roman Catholic Church that was once the site of the St. Alberts Indian Residential School sits just steps from where the Founders Walk begins, and yet there is no mention of the school something Ravenscroft and Hodgson want to change.

A lot of people walk this history walk, and so somewhere along here [should] be a way to acknowledge that history because right now the residential school story is untold on the Founders Walk, said Ravenscroft.

It's a gentle way of bringing that memory of the school and it's a peaceful way it builds relationships, said Hodgson, who is known for her work with the National Day of Healing and Reconciliation.

You can speak reconciliation, but to have a relationship thats [true] reconciliation, she said.

Hodgson would also like healing berries saskatoons, blueberries, raspberries and chokecherries to be planted in the area.

St. Alberts mayor Nolan Crouse would not comment on the proposal to CBC News, however, Ravenscroft said hes spoke with Crouse and says the mayor is supportive of the idea.