1883

The Beginning of Church-State Schooling at Siksika Nation – Championed by the Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, Canada’s Indian policy allowed “any religious denomination that be carrying on mission work upon a Reserve a reasonable quantity of land for buildings” including schools and teacherages (Edgar Dewdney Papers, M320, Vol. V.) Within this context, in 1883, Reverend John W. Tims was instructed by the Church Missionary Society to proceed to Blackfoot Crossing and build a log building, 29 feet by 24 feet, with a shingled roof and wooden oor (Stocken, 1976/1987, p. v).