Patuanak

Patuanak is a town in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the administrative headquarters of the Dene First Nations reserve near Churchill River and the north end of Lac Île-à-la-Crosse. In Dene, it sounds similar to Boni Cheri (Bëghą́nı̨ch’ërë).

The community consists of the Northern Hamlet of Patuanak with 64 residents governed by a Mayor and 3 councillors and the adjoining Wapachewunak 192D reserve of the English River Dene Nation with 482 residents (Canada Census 2011). The reserve is governed by a Chief and six councillors.

Patuanak is about 92 km (57 mi.) north of Beauval at the end of Highway 918.

Patuanak is located west of the Shagwenaw Rapids on the Churchill River. The community stretches for a mile and a half along the shoreline, with the reserve near the year-round open water below the rapids and the non-Treaty homes facing onto Shagwenaw Lake. Most of the families now at Patuanak traditionally lived down river at Primeau Lake, Dipper Lake and Knee Lake or Cree Lake.

As in most northern communities, the Hudson's Bay Company set up a store at Patuanak to replace those further down the Churchill River, which made Patuanak a fur-buying centre.

In 1916, Father Louis Moraud became the resident priest of Patuanak and served the English River Band area until his death in 1965. The main denomination is Roman Catholic.

Patuanak's permanent population remained small until 1968 when all the people in the surrounding areas began moving in.

In 1968, the school opened at Patuanak and many families moved in so their children could attend. Prior to 1968, the children were sent to the mission schools at Beauval and Ile a la Crosse, while their families went north to trap.

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