Sara Riel 1848-1883

"Sarah Riel the sister of Métis leader Louis Riel was born October 11, 1848 in St. Boniface, Manitoba. She joined the Grey Nuns as a novice in 1865 and in 1868 became the first Métis Grey Nun from Red River. She could speak English, French, Cree and Michif and in 1871  was sent to Île-à-la-Crosse where her father Jean-Louis Riel was born. She served in the school and the hospital of the mission until her death of tuberculosis December 27, 1883. She took the name Sister Marguerite-Marie in 1872 and is buried under that name at the cemetery in Île-à-la-Crosse. Her headstone in French reads: Ici Repose Rév. Soeur Marguerite Marie (Riel) Decédée 27 Decembre, 1883, Agée 34 ans, R.I.P.  She and her brother Louis Riel wrote to each other while she was alive and letters remain describing their relationship and her life in Île-à-la-Crosse." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Riel

Ile a la Crosse is built on a peninsula (aerial view) 

Flight from Île-à-la-Crosse 1885

Stories from the North-West Rebellion 

April 1885
In a few months the waterways of  northern  Saskatchewan would be ice free and York boat brigades would again travel to supply the Hudson's Bay Company posts of the Athabasca and Mackenzie River Districts located north of the Methye Portage. It was spring and some swift moving rivers like the Beaver River were relatively free of ice. Open water was beginning to show along some lakes. In the last week of April 1885 rumours of war reached the isolated village of Ile a la Crosse. The village had a population of about 300 people. Most were descendants of French Metis from Red River.

Ile a la Crosse 

Ile a la Crosse was the birthplace of Louis Riel Sr. (the father of Louis Riel) in 1817.  Sara Riel the sister of Louis Riel died in Ile a la Crosse in 1883. She was 34 years old.

The Looting of Green Lake in 1885

Stories of the North-West Rebellion

On April 26, 1885 a group of armed militants arrived to claim the contents of the Green Lake Post.

The river on this map of Green Lake flows into the Beaver River.

Green Lake is a village of 418 people in Saskatchewan a half hour drive north of the city of Meadow Lake.
A Hudson's Bay Post called Green Lake House was located there.  It was an important depot for the movement of supplies to the far north and was connected to Fort Carlton by an a ox-cart trail built in 1875-76.

Dene/Chipewyan Statistics

Dene children in La Loche, Saskatchewan in the 1940s

The Dene Suline language or the Chipewyan language 

Approximately 11,000 of the 11,860 people who chose Dene as their mother tongue in the 2011 Canada Census are Dene/Chipewyan from the historical Chipewyan regions south and east of Great Slave Lake.  7,955 or 72% were in Saskatchewan, 1,005 were in Manitoba, 510 plus urban dwellers in Alberta and 260 plus urban dwellers  in the Northwest Territories.

Imhoff of St. Walburg

The paintings of Count Berthold von Imhoff 

Imhoff paintings in Muenster, Saskatchewan

Imhoff video part 1

Imhoff video part 2

Imhoff video

Inuit of Pangnirtung, Nunavut..1953-1958

Photos by Geoffrey Secord.

More photos taken by Geoffrey Secord while he served as a doctor from 1953 to 1958 in Pangnirtung can be viewed on the following site.

http://archives.algomau.ca/drupal6/book/export/html/26219

Oilsand Quest sold to Cenovus

The remaining assets of Oilsands Quest sold for $10 million.

Oil Sands Quest spent hundreds of millions during its years of exploration in Saskatchewan.
read previous blog entry: Oilsands Quest for sale

(see also) Oilsands Quest 2007 native road blockade.

(see also) $349 million raised since 2004 (Corporate overview April 29,2009)

 Oilsands Quest leases in orange.                      read more....Oilsands Quest Timeline

Cenovus Energy Inc. sent out this press release October 2, 2012.

Father Mathieu's dog team 1950's La Loche

Father Bertrand Mathieu and his dog team in 1955 La Loche. The Mission of La Loche included La Loche, Garson Lake, Descharme Lake, Turnor Lake, Bull's House and West La Loche. Visiting these small villages regularly was Father Mathieu's responsibility. (Photos from Canada Archives)

•  Father Bertrand Mathieu o.m.i. (ordained in 1949) arrived in La Loche in 1950 and served until 1986.  .....History of La Loche

"The Great Portage" 1950's La Loche.

La Loche in the 1950's as shown in the writings of the missionaries and the students of the school.
In this issue of "The Great Portage" in 1959, a La Loche community newsletter: The church gets electricity. The school gets a new furnace. There is a plane crash in Garson Lake. There are weddings and births. There are TB clinics. A road is getting built to the village. (downloaded from: http://archives.algomau.ca/drupal6/search/apachesolr_search/la%20loche)

Ice fishing in Patuanak 1940's

http://www.jkcc.com/fishfur.html

"FISHING  A  SPORT?--NOT  HERE
Fishing  in winter  can  hardly  be  considered  a  sport.  It
is  rather  hard  work  which  deserves  better  than  an  8  cent
cheque  after  a  season  of  it." (written in 1947 by a student of Ile a la Crosse School)