The Marieval Indian Residential School, also known as the Cowessess school, was located in the Qu’Appelle valley, south of Crooked Lake. It opened on December 19, 1898 and closed on June 30, 1997. During its operation, it was managed by the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate, then later the Oblate Indian and Eskimo Commission and finally the Cowessess Board of Education.

You can learn more about the Marieval Indian Residential School, and other recognized schools under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA), by visiting the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation’s digital archive. I highly recommend reading the School Narrative which outlines important information and major events at the school.

Read more about Marieval here.

The following transcription is from the 1926 Canadian Census of Prairie Provinces which captured the names of staff and students at the Marieval school. You can find copies of the census on the government of Canada’s website. The pages that captured this information are from the Qu’Appelle electoral district, district number 30, sub-district 61, pages 1 and 2.

Search the 1926 Canadian Census here.

For ease of access, I have made these pages available here (page 1) and here (page 2).

A note about the transcription, I’ve transcribed the information as written in the census record. The term “Indian” is outdated and may be considered offensive. The term should only be used when in reference to status persons under the Indian Act.

You can read more about terminologies such as Indigenous, Aboriginal, Indian, Métis, Inuit, etc. here.

1926 Census Marieval Residential School Staff

Name		Position	Sex	Age	Tribal Origin	Mother Tongue
Joseph	Carriere	Head	Male	59	French	French
Fiebranie	Bergeron	Employee	Female	36	French	French
John	Chisholm	Employee	Male	86	Scotch	English
Laura	Collins	Employee	Female	44	French	French
Dovat	Fafard	Employee	Male	59	French	French
Ida	Hibotte	Employee	Female	29	French	French
Pierre	Kerouanton	Employee	Male	32	French	French
Alexina	Kerouanton	Employee’s wife	Female	21	French	French
Louis	Kerouanton	Employee’s son	Male	3	French	French
Joseph Paul	Kerouanton	Employee’s son	Male	2/12	French	French
Rose	Langstaff	Employee	Female	45	French	French
Alice	Lapierre	Employee	Female	36	French	French
Graziella	Maynard	Employee	Female	36	French	French
William	Moss	Employee	Male	38	English	English
Henry	Pichon	Employee	Male	26	French	French
Claudia	Rochelian	Employee	Female	42	French	French
Nocla	Tougas	Employee	Female	31	French	French

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1926 Census Marieval Residential School Students

Name		Sex	Age	Tribal Origin	Mother Tongue
Agnes Bella	Acoose	Female	14	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
Joseph Gabriel	Acoose	Male	15	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
Joseph Riel	Acoose	Male	13	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
Mary Jimamia	Acoose	Female	14	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
May Lucy	Acoose	Female	11	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
Rosalie	Acoose	Female	11	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
Edward	Agecoutay	Male	9	Cree Indian	Cree
Emma	Agecoutay	Female	7	Cree Indian	Cree
Eva	Agecoutay	Female	14	Cree Indian	Cree
Isidore	Agecoutay	Male	7	Cree Indian	Cree
Agnes	Aisaican	Female	14	Cree Indian	Cree
Albert	Aisaican	Male	12	Cree Indian	Cree
Andrew	Aisaican	Male	10	Cree Indian	Cree
Emanuel	Aisaican	Male	16	Cree Indian	Cree
Isadore	Aisaican	Male	17	Cree Indian	Cree
Jeremie	Aisaican	Male	14	Cree Indian	Cree
Joseph Victor	Aisaican	Male	9	Cree Indian	Cree
Leon	Aisaican	Male	8	Cree Indian	Cree
Marie Louise	Aisaican	Female	8	Cree Indian	Cree
Olivia	Aisaican	Female	10	Cree Indian	Cree
Delvina	Bellehumeur	Female	10	French Half-Breed1	French
Esther	Bellehumeur	Female	13	French Half-Breed	French
Mary Catherine	Bellehumeur	Female	15	French Half-Breed	French
Agnes	Borden	Female	6	Cree Indian2	Saulteaux
Josephine	Borden	Female	10	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
Alice	Delorme	Female	11	Indian3	Cree
Amable	Delorme	Male	7	Cree Indian	Cree
Ambrose	Delorme	Male	8	Cree Indian	Cree
Ambrose Charles	Delorme	Male	12	Cree Indian	Cree
Clara	Delorme	Female	10	Cree Indian	Cree
Clement	Delorme	Male	10	Cree Indian	Cree
Florence	Delorme	Female	13	Cree Indian	Cree
Francis	Delorme	Male	8	Cree Indian	Cree
Francoise	Delorme	Female	17	Cree Indian	Cree
Helene	Delorme	Female	11	Indian	Cree
Isabella	Delorme	Female	12	Cree Indian	Cree
James	Delorme	Male	14	Cree Indian	Cree
Rosalie	Delorme	Female	8	Cree Indian	Cree
Phillippe	Henry	Male	16	French Half-Breed	Cree
Gilbert	Lafontaine	Male	16	French Half-Breed	French
Marie	Lafontaine	Female	12	French Half-Breed	French
Norman	Lafontaine	Male	10	French Half-Breed	French
Peter	Lafontaine	Male	8	French Half-Breed	French
Agnes	Lavallee	Female	17	Cree Indian	Cree
Celina	Lavallee	Female	15	Cree Indian	Cree
Florestine	Lavallee	Female	15	French Half-Breed	French
Virginie	Lavallee	Female	13	Cree Indian	Cree
Emilie	Lerat	Female	11	Cree Indian	Cree
Florence	Lerat	Female	10	Cree Indian	Cree
George	Lerat	Male	16	Cree Indian	Cree
George	Lerat	Male	11	Cree Indian	Cree
Henrietta	Lerat	Female	16	Cree Indian	Cree
Alice	Louison	Female	6	Cree Indian	Cree
Moses	Northwind	Male	8	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
Eliza	Nowekeseswape	Female	15	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
Clementine	Pelletier	Female	11	Indian	Cree
Dovat	Pelletier	Male	14	Cree Indian	Cree
Edward	Pelletier	Male	10	Cree Indian	Cree
Elizabeth	Pelletier	Female	14	Cree Indian	Cree
Robert	Pelletier	Male	11	Cree Indian	Cree
Sampson	Pelletier	Male	15	Cree Indian	Cree
Theresa	Pelletier	Female	9	Cree Indian	Cree
John Baptiste	Redwood	Male	13	Cree Indian	Cree
Joseph	Redwood	Male	15	Cree Indian	Cree
Georgina	Smoker	Female	9	Cree Indian	Cree
Adeline	Sparvier	Female	10	Cree Indian	Cree
Lily Jane	Still	Female	10	Cree Indian	Cree
Rose Alice	Trottier	Female	9	Cree Indian	Cree
Alice	Two Voice	Female	16	Cree Indian	Cree
Marie Anne	Two Voice	Female	15	Indian	Cree
Joseph Paul	Wapamoose	Male	16	Cree Indian	Cree
Joseph	Williams	Male	14	Saulteaux Indian	Saulteaux
Joseph Cleophas	Young	Male	10	Cree Indian	Cree

¹ Outdated and insensitive term for Métis of French and Indigenous ancestry.

² I believe this is an error, and Agnes should be listed as from the Saulteaux Tribe.

³ For some students the enumerator did not list their tribe of origin, however, this information can likely be assumed based on information found in this table.