Patuanak sits west of the Shagwenaw Rapids on the Churchill River, near the north end of Lac Île-à-la-Crosse. The community stretches about a mile and a half along the shore. The reserve lies near the open water below the rapids, while the non-Treaty homes face Shagwenaw Lake. Most of the families who live here today traditionally lived farther down river, at Primeau Lake, Dipper Lake, Knee Lake and Cree Lake.
As in many northern communities, the Hudson's Bay Company opened a store at Patuanak to replace those further down the Churchill, and the place became a fur-buying centre. In 1916 Father Louis Moraud became the resident priest, serving the English River Band area until his death in 1965. Roman Catholic remains the main denomination.
One notable event predates the settlement. In April 1885, during the North-West Rebellion, people from the Hudson's Bay Company post and the Catholic mission at Île-à-la-Crosse fled to a small wooded island north of Patuanak, where the Denesuline of the area helped them. They raised a large cross there on May 24 and returned home on May 29. The spot is now known as Cross Island.
Patuanak's permanent population stayed small until 1968, when a school opened and families from the surrounding areas moved in so their children could attend. Before that, children were sent to residential schools at Beauval and Île-à-la-Crosse while their families went north to trap. Today people work at the Rabbit Lake and Key Lake mines, in government jobs or for the band office, and traditions such as moose hide tanning, beadwork and birch toboggans remain part of community life.
Written from Wikipedia’s article “Patuanak” (CC BY-SA 4.0), and shared under the same licence.