Patuanak's Cross Island

The Patuanak Cross of 1885

Father Moraud and Dene men from Patuanak will be replacing the cross on Cross Island in this series of photos taken in 1939.  The cross was transported by canoe.

The cross is resting on the shore.

Father Moraud and two men digging the hole for the cross.

Father Moraud with a shovel

Father Moraud kissing the cross 

The cross is blessed by Father Moraud

This photo shows Father Moraud and Dene men on an island near Patuanak in 1939. Father Moraud has blessed and kissed the cross. The cross was planted on Cross Island (in French it was called "Ile des Soeurs" or Nun's Island) during the filming of a movie about Keewatin. The cross seems to be a replacement of an older one which is lying on its side.

Read more......Flight from Ile a la Crosse 1885

On April 27, 1885 during the North-West Rebellion most of the personnel and dependants of the the Hudson's Bay Company Post and the Roman Catholic Mission alarmed at the looting of the Green Lake Post the previous day left the village of Ile a la Crosse. That first night they camped on a large sand point and the next day they reached the Churchill River. Eventually they set up a permanent camp on a small wooded island (Cross Island) north of Patuanak and were guarded by the Denesuline who lived in the vicinity. On May 24 the group erected a large cross on the island and returned to the village on May 29. The island in now known as Cross Island 

 WikiMiniAtlas55°59′46.1″N 107°40′26.9″W.

Cross Island is located 9.3 km (5.8 miles) north of Patuanak on the Churchill River.

"Le Révérend Père Louis Moraud, O.M.I. effectue le baisement de la croix érigée près de Chagona, Saskatchewan à l'Ile des Soeurs. On voit cinq Montagnais qui ont assisté à la plantation et à la bénédiction de la croix pour le film sur le Keewatin."

Link......................Saint Boniface Historical Society Photos

The same Dene men who planted the cross participate in a mass said by Father Moraud.