Access Residential School Student Names

The Provincial Archives Residential Schools Student Names List

The Provincial Archives Residential Schools Student Names List chronicles the names of children found in the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) fonds, who attended Oblate and Roman Catholic administered residential schools.

Student names were taken from correspondence and attendance and admission and discharge forms; codex and mission records; daily registers; nominal rolls; Principal’s reports; quarterly returns; newsletters; and yearbooks.

An individual student’s name may appear multiple times in the names list and may be spelled a number of different ways. The name might be found multiple times in one file. Or, you may find a name in several different documents (e.g. it may appear once in an attendance record one year, also once in a newsletter as well as, in a yearbook for that same year).

The PAA recorded each of these “name mentions” in the Residential School Student Names List. You may find this list on the front page of the OMI finding aid. Please note some records are in English and some are in French.

How do I find a Child’s name?

Go to the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate finding aid;
Look for the searchable PDF document located in the middle of the page;
If you know the name of the student you are looking for, open the searchable PDF of the Residential School Student Names List;
Enter Ctrl F to start your search;
Enter the student name in the search bar (e.g. Dixon);
Once you have found the name you are looking for in the list, copy the file number (e.g. PR1971.0220-3401) and paste it into the “Quick Search” bar on the left of the page;
You will see the file name just below the Quick Search, click on the file name;
You will be taken to the file where the name can be found. If the file has been digitized, an image will be at the top of that page;
Open the digitized file and review it in its entirety to find the reference(s) to the student you are looking for.

NOTE: There may be more than one name mention in a file.

NOTE: Not all files have been scanned. If you do not find a digitized image of the file you are looking for, please contact the Provincial Archives reference desk at 780-427-1056