THE BOARDING SCHOOLS.

The origin and history of these schools, which have grown up as it were between the two original types of schools, the day and the industrial, is most interesting and instructive. The details of the inspection of these schools will be found in table VIII., appended to this report. A reference to table I will show that in 1886 scarcely a single boarding school existed and that to-day we find their number to be 38, with a total cost to the department of $98,688, and the total pupils 1905–6, 1,739 as compared with (see tables III. and IV.) 694 in 74 day schools, and 693 in 8 industrial schools. It seems evident, therefore, that there are in these boarding schools some strong essentially vital forces which have enabled them to force their way into their present dominant position. Summarized, these seem to be:—

  1. Their location on, or in immediate proximity to, some Indian reserve.
  2. That with a few exceptions they have attached to them considerable tracts of land, and are engaged in some instances even more successfully than the industrial schools in agricultural operations and practical outdoor work.
  3. That their principals or some members of their establishment, being usually missionaries, are more or less constantly and closely in touch with the parents, whose
  4. children are to keep up the supply of pupils, and who, if they be of the right spirit, are constantly cultivating an interest in and sympathy for the school amongst the members of the band, such as is impossible for the principals of industrial schools unassociated with the reserves and long distances from them.
  5. The influence of a good master and spiritual adviser follows him, the pupil, to the reserve, where he is encouraged and directed in establishing himself in his future occupation on the reserve.
  6. The usually smaller schools, less complex in their organization, possess more of the elements of the family life of a home, and necessarily the influence of the principal, matron and staff is greater in the degree that their personality enters into the life of the pupil.