Daughters of Providence Sisters pose in their horse-drawn wagon, 1941.
Under the 1876 Indian treaty, a reserve was established at Whitefish Lake in Saskatchewan in 1888, and the tribes of Stoney Lake, Whitefish Lake, Big River and Pelican Lakes agreed to amalgamate under Chief Kenemotayoo. A number of the local families of Big River moved to the reserve at that time, but some of the band remained at the village until 1919. Missionaries visited the area occasionally and ministered to the people there.
Oblate Father Patrick Beaudry, a Métis from Alberta, arrived in Muskeg Lake in 1929 to care for many Indian missions in the area. When he arrived at the White Fish reserve, Fr. Beaudry’s first task was to construct a church.
On March 9, 1929, Fr. Beaudry celebrated Mass in the home of William Joseph. Many other Indians were there, and they asked if they too could have a chapel like the ones in Mistiwasis and Sturgeon Lake. Fr. Beaudry promised them that a church would be built. The chapel was started on May 14, 1930. It was made out of squared logs. The Indians of the reserve donated all the labour. The Catholic Church Extension Society and friends of Fr. Beaudry donated a total of $724. The first Mass was celebrated on June 29, 1930. In 1936, a stable was built, and in 1937, the church building was placed on a cement foundation. This church served the Catholic population of White Fish until 1967.
The first resident missionary of White Fish was Oblate Father Georges Étienne Paquette. He arrived in 1937 and was pastor there until his death in 1956. Fr. Paquette lived in a humble shack which he kept scrupulously clean. He fostered many conversions to Catholicism. He spoke the language of the people and spent much of his time visiting the families of his area. It is told that he was hard looking but that he had the heart of a mother. Little by little, he became well loved by his people.
Until 1938, the school in White Fish had been under the guidance of the Anglican Church. When Fr. Paquette arrived on the reserve, he noted that many of the children attending the school were Catholics. Fr. Paquette obtained permission to build a Catholic school on the Big River reserve.
Fr. Paquette begged the Daughters of Providence and the Vicar to have Sisters for his mission at Whitefish (then called Big River Indian reserve). “Because,” he said, “alone, I am helpless, but with the help of Sisters, I dare hope that good will be accomplished.” In October 1941, upon the request of Fr. Paquette, the Daughters of Providence were asked to open an Indian school at Whitefish reserve. Three Sisters, Sister St. Louis de Gonzague, Sister Cecilia de Jesus and Sister Paul de la Croix, were chosen to open up this new field of labour. The first occupation of the Sisters was to teach, but they did much more than educate. They had a small pharmacy and ministered to numerous minor ailments. In this way, they met many people whom they would not have seen otherwise. Aside from teaching household and hygiene skills to the women, they also visited the Indians’ homes and helped the people in any way they could.
The early beginnings were hard. Limited living quarters, no electricity, no refrigerator, no furnace, not even a pantry. In winter as well as in summer, water was brought in by the
pailful from the nearby lake. In wintertime, this meant hacking through three feet of ice, just as native people still do today.
The work in the mission was by no means any easier. Each morning, rain or shine, the missionary priest would go from cabin to cabin or from tent to tent, according to the season, to wake up the children and bring them to school. Thanks to this devotion, the class would be gathered together so that by noon everyone would be present. And how the children’s appetites never failed! Soon, the men and women who came to “supervise” the daily class routine ceased their visits and, satisfied with what they saw, began sending their children to school without waiting for the missionary to come and get them.
At school, each child was washed, combed and dressed in clean clothes. Before entering his classroom, he would have eaten his breakfast, and by noon, would have been served a good dinner. Besides reading, writing and arithmetic, each child was expected to learn to love manual work and to know, love and serve the Lord. Everyday the good Fr. Paquette would give religious instruction in Cree.
Little by little, both the school and the Sisters’ residence had to be enlarged. Then a heavy trial came on this mission.
On February 14, 1956, Fr. Paquette, who was then confined in the hospital at Prince Albert, died suddenly. A funeral service was held in Debden. In spite of severe cold weather and a raging snowstorm, all the Indians of Whitefish attended this ser-vice. Many had come on foot: all, without exception—young and old—surrounded the coffin, weeping.
Several Oblate Fathers succeeded Fr. Paquette. The Sisters entrusted the leadership of the school to the lay teachers and, in 1972, decided to leave the mission. It was a painful moment for all.
Father Luc Gaudet, who was the parish priest of Big River in the late 1950s, recalls the many times he visited the Indian people who were sick in the hospital. The priest would visit for a while, and then would ask the patients to what religion they belonged. One day he received the reply:
“I belong to Fr. Paquette’s religion.” For that man, the religion preached by Fr. Paquette was the one in which he believed, and the one he had chosen.
Father A. Rodrigue came to White Fish in 1964. By that time, the wooden boards close to the foundation of the church had rotted from dampness. Fr. Rodrigue asked Father Roland Tetreault, O.M.I., to come and construct a new church.
This new church was blessed by Bishop H.P. Morin in June of 1968.
The last Oblate to reside in White Fish was Father A. Alberti. After his tenure, diocesan clergy assumed leadership of the mission but did not reside in the reserve. Currently, the parish priest in Debden looks after the Catholic community of White Fish. The faith life of the parish has grown because of the presence of the Presentation Sisters on the reserve. Parish records indicate an increase in the number of baptisms and Confirmations. The spiritual life of the people continues to grow with the formation of youth groups, Christopher groups, small Christian communities and Life-in-Spirit seminar groups from within the parish.
(Peter Reis, who wrote this short history of the Sacred Heart mission in Whitefish reserve a month before he died a few years ago, served as resource centre librarian in the Diocese of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Over the past decade, Sister Yvette Perreault and Sister Estelle Lavigne, and most recently, Sister Diane Lajeunesse, of the Sisters of Presentation of Mary, have administered the mission. A newly ordained priest, Father Millan Sajonas, pastor of Saint-Jean-Baptiste parish in Debden, celebrates Mass in the mission on Sundays.)
