Father Lacombe The French Missionary
Father Lacombe’s Life
Father Lacombe was born on February, 28, 1827 at Saint Sulpice. He lived on a farm for a part of his life but at age 22 he was ordained a priest. As he was ordained he was sent west to Pembina, Minnesota territory. He worked there from 1849 to 1851 (2 years). In 1851 he returned briefly to Canada East. He secured a position as a curate in the town Berthier there. In 1852 Father Lacombe went to Lac Ste Anne. Father Lacombe was a French missionary. As a young man Father Lacombe wanted to become a missionary. Father Lacombe is known as “the man with the kind heart”.Father Lacombe died on 1916 December 12.
Father Lacombe’s change
Father Lacombe fought for the rights lost to Catholics by the Manitoba school law of 1890. Father Lacombe built an orphanage and a school. He is remembered for brokering peace in-between Cree and Blackfoot nation. He played a major role in founding schools. He built a school for orphans and taught them to read and write. He was given the mission of evangelizing the Cree and Blackfoot. He also acted as a peacemaker in wars between Cree and Blackfoot nation. He opened the first flour mill in Saint-Albert. His special care was for the workers employed to build the Canadian Pacific railway. In 1880 he became the first parish priest in the growing town of Alberta. He acted as a negotiator between Canadian Pacific and the Blackfoot who did not want the railway to cross their side of their territory. He opened a school in 1898. Canadian Pacific was grateful to Father Albert Lacombe until the end of his long life.
At The Time
Did you ever ask yourself what was your transportation to school? Well they would have to walk to school, ride horses to school or use a sleigh pulled by horses. And the school was a one room building. There would be a stove in the middle of the school to keep the children warm in winter. But they had a most important day in the year. It was the Christmas concert day.
Now I will talk to you about how you would collect your food. You would have to plant your own food. But if your plants would die in winter you would starve. If there was disasters- fire, hail, drought, grasshopers the plants would die.
Father Lacombe’s Values
He values story telling because he was a big story teller.
He values religion because you have to believe in what you’re saying and he was a priest so he has to believe in what he was teaching or else he would not be a priest.
He values farming because he lived on a farm for part of his life until he was ordained a priest at age 22.
Sources Used:
1. green our Alberta book (page: 222)
2. Ordinary people in Alberta’s past (page: 54)
Sites:
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Lacombe
4. http://www.umanitoba.ca/colleges/st_pauls/ccha/Back%20Issues/CCHA1959/Crunican.pdf
5. http://edimage.ca/edimage/grandspersonnages/en/carte_r06.html