"Rendezvous" for renewal at "Lake of the Great Spirit": the french pilgrimage and indigenous journey to Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, 1870-1896

The Lac Ste-Anne Pilgrimage is an Indigenous-Catholic gathering that takes place along the lake at Lac Ste-Anne, Alberta, seventy-five kilometres west of Edmonton, and continues to attract approximately 50, 000 pilgrims yearly, most of them of First Nations or Métis heritage. It was initiated on June 6, 1889, by Jean-Marie Lestanc, a Catholic father with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a congregation which originated in Marseilles, France. This thesis discusses the long history of both Catholic pilgrimage and aboriginal rendezvous traditions in France and Canada respectively, and addresses the complexity of conversion among North-Western Canadian indigenous peoples in the nineteenth century. It suggests that the event was borne of an implicit negotiation and compromise between the largely francophone Oblate fathers and the local First Nations and Métis peoples over the significance of Lac Ste-Anne, and the “nomadic” ritual journey needed to arrive there.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Graduate Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Buresi, Jessica Anne

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Colpitts, George

• History

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, fre

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/27628

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:11023/173