Re: George McDougall School.
Dear editor,
George McDougall opened a school for orphans from the Morley Reserve in Morleyville. I did discover that the man stole a meteorite the Indigenous People considered sacred, but I found it hard to find much else negative about this man. He helped the Indigenous People of Morley negotiate a treaty by acting as a translator for them. Governments agents tried to obtain consent to Treaty 7 without explaining what the treaty actually said after bringing the people of Morley to desperation by literally starving them.
Perhaps the proponents of renaming the high school should elaborate as to why the name should be changed. Was McDougall’s school involved in more than just housing and teaching orphans? Were there charges of abuse at this school? I’m all for changing the name of a building if it was named after a historical figure who was involved in taking Indigenous children from their home and/or abusing them, but as far as I can find, George McDougall was a missionary trying to help the people of the Morley Reserve.
Elaine MacDonald
Airdrie
