Archival letters and reports paint a clearer picture of how early mission schooling worked and how Indigenous families adapted to a changing world

Title: The history that we share: Nanaimo Indian Band, Methodist Church of Canada, Coqualeetza Home and School
Author: Robert Janning

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Robert Janning’s new book brings together original documents from 1859 to 1890 that show early relations between Indigenous families and Methodist missionaries in Nanaimo, B.C., were far more cooperative than many Canadians assume today.

The documents reveal why the Methodist mission became central to community life. At the time, mission-run schools predated the federal residential school system, which was not formally set up until the 1880s and grew in the decades that followed.

Janning presents information on 12 Methodist missionaries beginning with Rev. Arthur Browning (1859-1860) and ending with Rev. Joseph Hall (1887-1890). Over this period, two Indigenous assistants, Amos Cushan and David Sallosalton, helped with the mission work.

The documents also highlight several details that may surprise readers.

First, many of the early missionaries and schoolteachers learned Indigenous languages. For example, Rev. Arthur Browning spoke Chinook and Hul’q’umi’num, and Thomas Crosby, an early teacher, spoke Chinook, Hul’q’umi’num, Nisga’a and Sm’algyax. Learning these languages required considerable dedication because there were no standardized orthographies or dictionaries.

The second point is that these missionaries developed admiration and respect for the Indigenous people. There were misunderstandings, but they were quickly overcome.

Third, both parents and chiefs supported the idea of schooling. The documents show that most leaders and parents knew their world was changing and that their children would have to adapt to new economic and social realities. They believed a mission education would help prepare them.

Because families were unfamiliar with school routines, children were often truant. Rev. Ebenezer Robson wrote about the difficulties he had in ensuring that Indigenous students attended, especially on frosty winter days or when they were needed at home. Even with these challenges, attendance improved over time, and the records show the students quickly learned to speak, read and write in English, and then used English to master other subjects.

The last chapter contains documents about the building and management of the Coqualeetza Indian Residential School. “Coquealeetza” is an Indigenous word meaning “place of cleaning,” because the school was situated where people cleaned their clothing in the springtime. About 40 per cent of the Indian residential schools had Indigenous names, often based on local places or Indigenous terms already used in the region.

The Coqualeetza school described in these early documents reflects its missionary phase; the institution later became a federal residential school after the government assumed responsibility in the early 1900s.

When I came here for the 23rd March, I found five girls and two boys under the care of Rev. and Mrs. Tate. Immediately after the annual camp-meeting we had three more added to the number, and a day or two later, on the 10th June, three other arrivals compelled us to move into the new building, although it was not quite ready for our occupying. We spread the beds upon the floors, and made the best of the noise of carpenters’ hammers and saws, knowing these were necessary for our comfort and convenience. Two little girls, whose mother died during the time the camp-meetings were in session, came to us now. About the first of July Miss Lawrence brought two more children from Nanaimo, and a little girl, whose mother is ill (the doctor says with consumption), came to us. Also a lad named Alfred Stephen, whose mother is dead, was sent here by his father, making our present number eighteen. The names and ages of all the children who have been under Mr. and Mrs. Tate’s care since they opened this school, I will forward, and the date of their entering. We have with us at present twelve girls and six boys. (p. 273)

Miss Elderkin’s letter shows that missionaries often cared for orphans and destitute children in residential schools, including some who were not of school age.

The history that we share: Nanaimo Indian Band, Methodist Church of Canada, Coqualeetza Home and School will interest Canadians who know little about the relationship between Indigenous people and missionaries during the late 1800s.

At a time when debates about history often turn polarized, this collection of primary documents offers readers a reminder that the past was more complex than many current narratives suggest. Taken together, the documents give readers a clearer sense of how cooperation, language learning and shared expectations shaped early missionary-Indigenous relations in Nanaimo.

Our Verdict: ★★★★½☆
Highly recommended for readers interested in early Methodist-Indigenous relations. While scholars may wish for additional context or analysis, the book’s strength lies in its clear presentation of primary documents that offer a more nuanced view of 19th-century Nanaimo than many Canadians hear today.

The book has had limited distribution, and Robert Janning has been giving copies away. If you would like a copy, email him ([email protected]) and he will send you an electronic version.

Rodney A. Clifton is a professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba and a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. He is the co-editor, along with Mark DeWolf, of From Truth Comes Reconciliation: An Assessment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report (Frontier Centre for Public Policy, 2024).