Artefact 6 and 7 : Food

Citation : Collection search - [recreation and dining hall in basement, looking west, Ermineskin Indian Residential School, Hobbema, Alberta, June 3, 1938]. Library and Archives Canada. (1938, June 3). http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=4621151&lang=eng

Collection search - [recreation and dining hall on main floor, looking east, ermineskin indian residential school, Hobbema, Alberta, June 3, 1938]. Library and Archives Canada. (1938b). http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=4621150&lang=eng

Label : 

Students had very poor diets in Residential Schools. The images above show the dining hall in the Ermineskin Residential School. Their diet was poor and the place they ate in was also unsanitary and dirty. Most students were hungry at all times. 

"We were hungry all the time. Porridge with skim milk was the standard breakfast. At dinnertime, we'd have some kind of mush, a stew of some sort, a pudding and a slice of bread, no butter. At suppertime, we'd have the same kind of mush, some vegetables” (Truth and Reconciliation, 2012). Most of these students' diets consisted of tasteless food that wasn’t cooked properly. Beans were a popular dish in residential schools but most of it wouldn’t get cooked properly. The beans would be solid and would sometimes cause kids to crack their teeth (Truth and Reconciliation, 2012). Many kids had a hard time adjusting to this new diet. They said they missed eating food their families would cook for them (Truth and Reconciliation, 2012). 

Bibliography : 

​​Truth and Reconciliation Commision of Canada. They came for the children: Canada, Aboriginal peoples,... Government Of Canada Publications. (2012). https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2012/cvrc-trcc/IR4-4-2012-eng.pdf