Born in Québec, Father Albert Lacombe (1827-1916) left an indelible mark on Western Canada. Towns and schools there have been named in his honour, and there is a monument near Edmonton dedicated to his memory.
Catherine Larochelle, a researcher in the Department of History at Université de Montréal, sought to understand the processes that helped make him a hero, even during his lifetime.
Father Lacombe was ordained a priest in June 1849 and went on to spend several decades in the West. There he worked as a missionary, notably among the Cree and the Blackfoot. At the time, Canada was in the midst of colonizing the West. Father Lacombe would, in fact, become the first parish priest of Calgary.
French-Canadian religious orders engaged in missionary work published accounts of their missionaries’ adventures. The missionaries themselves also wrote extensively, particularly in the form of letters. These writings served not only to document their experiences, but also to convince Catholics in Canada and France of the importance of their missionary work, with a view to securing funding.
Catherine Larochelle noted significant differences between the letters sent by the missionaries and the versions that were made public. The religious orders edited the publications to reinforce racist prejudices against Indigenous peoples, disregarding the missionaries’ more nuanced views.
This research has provided a better understanding of the role played by Albert Lacombe in the establishment of residential schools in Western Canada and the support he received from the people of Québec and through global Catholic missionary organizations.
The research highlights the significance of female authors who wrote biographies of Lacombe, helping to forge his legend. It also sheds light on the role played by 19th-century Catholic missionary nuns in the Canadian colonial project.