Calgary to place temporary memorial signage this fall at former St. Dunstan's residential school site

Temporary signage will go up this fall at the field near Deerfoot Trail and Glenmore Trail where St. Dunstan's school, also known as Calgary Indian Industrial School, operated from 1896 to 1907. The signage will outline the school's history and feature artistic elements by a descendant of a former student.

The school held boys ages 10 to 18 from several reserves in southern Alberta. The Anglican Church ran the institution, where students received daily religious instruction and were taught carpentry, livestock raising, and crop work, alongside domestic labour including laundry, cleaning and kitchen duties. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded residential schools were designed to assimilate Indigenous people and that many former students suffered sexual or physical abuse.

Calgary Arts Development is leading the memorial project. Jared Tailfeathers, a member of the Blackfoot Confederacy and project specialist, has consulted extensively with Indigenous communities over recent years. "I would say it is probably by far the most sensitive project for Calgary Arts Development," Tailfeathers said. More permanent commemorations — possibly public art, seating areas, or gathering spaces — will follow in future years depending on community wishes.

The site sits just east of Deerfoot and north of Glenmore, steps from the Bow River pathway but without road access to the green space. "People [on Deerfoot] drive by the site all the time and have no idea it's there," Tailfeathers said. The placement of permanent features will depend on the timeline of the Green Line LRT project, which will be built across city-owned land over the next few years.