History of Lac Stay. Anne Shrine | Globalnews.ca

on Tuesday, Pope Francis will accept a longstanding invitation to attend an annual Pilgrimage This is a lake stay. Anne.

While he is only participating now, the pilgrimage dates back more than 130 years.

It began when a North Dakota chief followed a vision and the sound of drumming up to the lake.

“When they came here, they thought this would be the place because in the treetops you can hear the drumming,” Alexis Nakota, head of the Sioux Nation, Tony Alexis, told Global News.

Alexis says that the chief and his grandson set up a raft so they can go to the lake. The story goes that it was misty and the water was rough, but as they approached a small island, it cleared.

“As they approached, there was this beautiful woman in the middle of the island with her hair down. She had feathers in her hair. She had a full buckwheat,” Alexis explained.

“And around the perimeter of this island were children who were playing drums. And then it went into a beat. And they say, after that they all went into his hand, and they heard about it for the last time.”

The Nakota people settled on the land. They knew the lake as Wakamane, or the Lord’s Lake.

Years later, in 1841, a Metis man invited Catholics to send a priest to live on the land.

The Reverend Jean-Baptiste Thibault blessed the lake, calling it Lac Ste. Anne.

He also built the Lac Stay. Anne Mission, the first permanent Catholic mission west of Winnipeg.

But by 1887 the area was mostly deserted and Father Joseph Lestanc decided to close the mission.

At first, they prayed over it and God instructed them to instead build a temple to St. Anne and begin a pilgrimage to the site.

“Grandmothers are very important to the indigenous people,” Lac Ste. Anne Parish Pastor Father Les Kwiatkowski explained, “And as we know, St. Anne is the grandmother of Jesus. That’s why people come here – to pray and be with Grandma.”

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The first official pilgrimage was organized in 1889. It began as a two-day gathering with Métis, Indigenous and First Nations people attending a Cree sermon on one day, and an English sermon the next.

Over the course of the century, the gathering has grown from several hundred people to a week-long event, which now attracts upwards of 40,000 each year.

All ages, all abilities and all religions are welcome.

“What our elders would say is that we are praying to one god and then all our prayers are equal,” Alexis said.

Initially, pilgrims found the lake to have healing powers.

People who have hearing or vision difficulties, such as those who have the disease or those who rely on crutches, wheelchairs, or walkers.

It is said that some people would go into Lac Stay without those assistance, using crutches, wheelchairs and hanging goggles. Anne Shrine as soon as he left the site.

The water is also said to heal mental wounds.

Kwiatkowski said, “People have so much pain, sometimes they get angry and they just get to that place and they leave it behind.”

The Pope’s visit is expected to heal mental wounds for some, while it may exacerbate pain for others.

Either way, his participation in the pilgrimage is expected to bring international attention to the National Historic Site.

More than 100,000 people are expected to visit the holy shore over the next week, and many more are expected in the future.

Alexis says he hopes to stop and listen to the drums that first brought his people there many centuries ago.