By Christina Williamson Counter-Memorial to Father Lacombe The words on the pedestal for Father Lacombe in St. Alberta, Alberta read as follows: FATHER LACOMBE O.M.I. A MISSIONARY & PIONEER  OF THE NORTHWEST FOR 67 YEARS HE LABOURED FOR GOD, HIS FELLOWMEN AND HIS COUNTRY BORN IN QUEBEC 1827, CAME TO THE WEST 1849, DIED 1916 UN MISSIONNAIRE & PIONNIER DU NORD-OUEST PENDANT 67 ANS IL SE DEPENSA POUR DIEU, SON PROCHAIN ET SON PAYS NÉ DANS QUÉBEC 1827, VIENT DANS L’OUEST 1849, MOURUT 1916 The left side says: PERE LACOMBE, O.M.I THE CREE INDIANS CALLED HIM: KAMITYO ATCHAKWET “THE NOBLE SOUL” The right side says: PERE LACOMBE, O.M.I THE BLACKFEET INDIANS CALLED HIM: ARS-OSKITSIPARPIW “THE MAN WITH THE GOOD HEART” Father Albert Lacombe had a significant impact on many of the cultural groups in Alberta. Métis, Cree, Blackfoot and Francophone communities continue to remember him as a hero, but for rather different reasons. However, he is less well known to the Anglophone community. Today, it is hard to imagine St. Albert (outside Edmonton, Alberta) as anything other than an Anglophone community. The statue of Father Lacombe is one of the few reminders of the Métis Mission, and later the Franco-Albertan farming community, that once existed here. This counter-memorial suggests rewriting the statue’s plaque in order to demonstrate the many possible perspectives on Father Lacombe. It is meant as an alternative to the simplistic and one-sided story which depicts Lacombe as a Great Man who converted the Indians, brought settlers to the West, and thus truly “civilized” Alberta. The Following Text would be written in Michif The Métis people remember Père Albert Lacombe for founding several Métis Missions. The most successful was St. Albert, founded in 1861. It grew to be the diocese of most of Western Canada. Other missions were no so fortunate. Père Lacombe founded Saint-Paul-des-Métis in 1895. It was abandoned completely by 1898. Regardless of any shortcomings, Notre Vieux Connaissant is still remembered for his support and advocacy for the Métis people. The Following Text would be written in Blackfoot Father Lacombe is known to the Siksika (Blackfoot) as Man With A Good Heart; Ars-Oskitsiparpiw. He is remembered for his help in the negotiations of Treaty 7 between the Blackfoot and the Canadian Government when the Canadian Pacific Railroad began to pass through a Blackfoot Reserve. Father Lacombe was also the principal of the Residential School of Dewdney, yet few Blackfoot attended the residential school. Despite his attempts to assimilate the Blackfoot and convert them, he is remembered as a good friend to Chief Crowfoot and his people; advocating for the Blackfoot, working to make peace, and to ensure their material and spiritual well-being. His heart is buried in Midnapore (Calgary) among the Blackfoot people. The Following Text would be written in Cree Father Lacombe is known to the Cree as Kamiyo Atchakwet; Man With the Noble Soul. The Cree remember him for his creation of several missions and extensive knowledge of the Cree language. He wrote a Cree dictionary and taught the Catholic religion to the Cree in their own language. He founded Saint-Paul-des-Cris (Brousseau, Alberta) in 1865, though it was abandoned in 1871; the attempted agricultural mission did not suit the Cree culture. He later refined the ambulatory style of mission work where he lived among the Cree during hunting season. He tried to protect the Cree from the soon-to-be overwhelming number of white settlers in Alberta. Lacombe adjusted Catholicism to the Cree including burning sweetgrass instead of incense during mass. His body rests in Cree territory in the St. Albert Parish Church crypt beside Mgr. Vital Grandin and Father Hippolyte Leduc. The Following Text would be written in French Born a habitant in Saint-Sulpice, Quebec, Father Lacombe is remembered by Francophones throughout Canada. He is seen as a soldier for the Catholic faith and the French-Canadian culture. Father Lacombe helped open up the west, and worked for ten years to convince French-Canadians to settle in Alberta, despite the opposition from Quebec parish priests, who called the settlers traitors for leaving the motherland. Still today, there is a strong, though small, Franco-Albertan community that remembers his charisma and tireless work for the First Nations. The Following Text would be written in English Father Lacombe was a peacemaker and resolved conflicts between Cree and Blackfoot, between Blackfoot and Métis and between white and first nations. Father Lacombe evangelized among the Canadian Pacific Railroads workers and mediated between the Blackfoot and the Canadian government, preventing bloodshed and helping with the negotiations of Treaty 7. Lacombe helped to settle the West and brought many settlers who helped found and enrich the province of Alberta. A Final Perspective Despite the positive memories surrounding Father Lacombe, he was a ultramontane missionary loyal to the Catholic Pope and serving as a missionary. Lacombe believed that he was saving the Cree, Blackfoot, and Métis from Hell by converting them to his faith. Some argue that missionaries are one of the main causes for the racism developed in the late nineteenth century, due to their belief in the general inferiority of First Nation cultures and religions. Missionary work in Alberta was not only about converting people to Catholicism; it was also about trying to “civilize” them through cultural imperialism.

By Christina Williamson

Counter-Memorial to Father Lacombe

The words on the pedestal for Father Lacombe in St. Alberta, Alberta

read as follows:

FATHER LACOMBE O.M.I.

A MISSIONARY

& PIONEER
OF THE NORTHWEST
FOR 67 YEARS
HE LABOURED

FOR GOD,

HIS FELLOWMEN

AND HIS COUNTRY

BORN IN QUEBEC

1827,

CAME TO THE WEST

1849,

DIED 1916

UN MISSIONNAIRE
& PIONNIER

DU NORD-OUEST

PENDANT 67 ANS

IL SE DEPENSA

POUR DIEU,

SON PROCHAIN

ET SON PAYS

NÉ DANS QUÉBEC

1827,

VIENT DANS L’OUEST

1849,

MOURUT 1916

The left side says:

PERE LACOMBE, O.M.I

THE CREE INDIANS CALLED HIM:

KAMITYO ATCHAKWET

“THE NOBLE SOUL”

The right side says:

PERE LACOMBE, O.M.I

THE BLACKFEET INDIANS CALLED HIM:

ARS-OSKITSIPARPIW

“THE MAN WITH THE GOOD HEART”

Father Albert Lacombe had a significant impact on many of the cultural groups in Alberta. Métis, Cree, Blackfoot and Francophone communities continue to remember him as a hero, but for rather different reasons. However, he is less well known to the Anglophone community. Today, it is hard to imagine St. Albert (outside Edmonton, Alberta) as anything other than an Anglophone community. The statue of Father Lacombe is one of the few reminders of the Métis Mission, and later the Franco-Albertan farming community, that once existed here. This counter-memorial suggests rewriting the statue’s plaque in order to demonstrate the many possible perspectives on Father Lacombe. It is meant as an alternative to the simplistic and one-sided story which depicts Lacombe as a Great Man who converted the Indians, brought settlers to the West, and thus truly “civilized” Alberta.

The Following Text would be written in Michif

The Métis people remember Père Albert Lacombe for founding several Métis Missions. The most successful was St. Albert, founded in 1861. It grew to be the diocese of most of Western Canada. Other missions were no so fortunate. Père Lacombe founded Saint-Paul-des-Métis in 1895. It was abandoned completely by 1898. Regardless of any shortcomings, Notre Vieux Connaissant is still remembered for his support and advocacy for the Métis people.

The Following Text would be written in Blackfoot

Father Lacombe is known to the Siksika (Blackfoot) as Man With A Good Heart; Ars-Oskitsiparpiw. He is remembered for his help in the negotiations of Treaty 7 between the Blackfoot and the Canadian Government when the Canadian Pacific Railroad began to pass through a Blackfoot Reserve. Father Lacombe was also the principal of the Residential School of Dewdney, yet few Blackfoot attended the residential school. Despite his attempts to assimilate the Blackfoot and convert them, he is remembered as a good friend to Chief Crowfoot and his people; advocating for the Blackfoot, working to make peace, and to ensure their material and spiritual well-being. His heart is buried in Midnapore (Calgary) among the Blackfoot people.

The Following Text would be written in Cree

Father Lacombe is known to the Cree as Kamiyo Atchakwet; Man With the Noble Soul. The Cree remember him for his creation of several missions and extensive knowledge of the Cree language. He wrote a Cree dictionary and taught the Catholic religion to the Cree in their own language. He founded Saint-Paul-des-Cris (Brousseau, Alberta) in 1865, though it was abandoned in 1871; the attempted agricultural mission did not suit the Cree culture. He later refined the ambulatory style of mission work where he lived among the Cree during hunting season. He tried to protect the Cree from the soon-to-be overwhelming number of white settlers in Alberta. Lacombe adjusted Catholicism to the Cree including burning sweetgrass instead of incense during mass. His body rests in Cree territory in the St. Albert Parish Church crypt beside Mgr. Vital Grandin and Father Hippolyte Leduc.

The Following Text would be written in French

Born a habitant in Saint-Sulpice, Quebec, Father Lacombe is remembered by Francophones throughout Canada. He is seen as a soldier for the Catholic faith and the French-Canadian culture. Father Lacombe helped open up the west, and worked for ten years to convince French-Canadians to settle in Alberta, despite the opposition from Quebec parish priests, who called the settlers traitors for leaving the motherland. Still today, there is a strong, though small, Franco-Albertan community that remembers his charisma and tireless work for the First Nations.

The Following Text would be written in English

Father Lacombe was a peacemaker and resolved conflicts between Cree and Blackfoot, between Blackfoot and Métis and between white and first nations. Father Lacombe evangelized among the Canadian Pacific Railroads workers and mediated between the Blackfoot and the Canadian government, preventing bloodshed and helping with the negotiations of Treaty 7. Lacombe helped to settle the West and brought many settlers who helped found and enrich the province of Alberta.

A Final Perspective

Despite the positive memories surrounding Father Lacombe, he was a ultramontane missionary loyal to the Catholic Pope and serving as a missionary. Lacombe believed that he was saving the Cree, Blackfoot, and Métis from Hell by converting them to his faith. Some argue that missionaries are one of the main causes for the racism developed in the late nineteenth century, due to their belief in the general inferiority of First Nation cultures and religions. Missionary work in Alberta was not only about converting people to Catholicism; it was also about trying to “civilize” them through cultural imperialism.