The
Man Of Good Heart Fr. Albert Lacombe
As the Catholic church spokesperson
on the prairies, he played a very significant role in helping settle the
Alberta plains. Lacombe's love for the native people never faded and lived
up to the name bestowed by the Indians " The Man of the Good Heart."
The oldest building in Alberta is the original log chapel built by Father Lacombe and Metis at the St. Albert Mission. It is said that Lacombe was the first to plough the fertile land of Alberta and constructed the first
flour mill.
Lacombe ministered to the Indians
on horseback, dog team and snowshoe in his constant efforts to contact
and sometimes pacify warring tribes. Lacombe often stayed with the Indians
for many weeks at a time. Rocky Mountain House Natives were also beneficiaries
of his love.
Sahale
Sticks and Catholic Ladders
Lacombe loved teaching and one technique that he used was called the 'Sahale stick.' Lacombe for some reason had much difficulty teaching the Blackfoot until he started visualizing and drawing pictures of Creation etc. on a Buffalo hide. Lacombe devised what was called " The Catholic Ladder " which was in reality a path to heaven and told the stories of the Old and New testaments in a picture, symbols, hieroglyphics style that the Indians grasped very quickly. Father Lacombe in a letter to Bishop Tache in 1865 wrote "
Last summer I made a 'Catholic
Ladder' which is very popular among the Indians and of great assistance
to me."
Lacombe
is quoted in " Chief of the Prairies" his biography by Breton
" .... everything was included, clearly and simply expressed.. it proved
more effective than many hours of oral instruction. ... accomplished more
good than many a learned sermon by a great theologian. The simplicity of
Lacombe's eloquence won over whole bands of Indians, one of his most effective
teachings being his famous " Catholic Ladder."
Father
DeSmet and Father Blanchet also used these ladders. One ladder , colorfully
displayed at the Historic Park, shows the intricacies of the stories. Lacombe's
use of the ladders was not without critics. The Protestant clergy, who
were to devise their own 'ladders' , complained that the Catholic Ladder
has " a road indicating those following the Catholic Religion leading to
Heaven and another road marked ' pretended reformations' ending in a very
different place."
In
the early days Lacombe used merely the 'Sahale stick' which was a wide
staff that had markings on the wood. He later made a 'ladder' on parchment
which was of charcoal and black and white. Later he had one given to him
as a gift by the Sisters Of Notre Dame that was a splash of color similar
to the one displayed at the Historic Park.
Wounded
Father Lacombe had much to do with Rocky Mountain House Fort. In 1864, during a serious epidemic, Father Lacombe arrived to help the Indians and to minister to the dying. In 1865 Lacombe was wounded during a flare up between the Cree and the Blackfoot when he attempted to intervene. Unknown to the Cree, Lacombe had been visiting the Blackfoot when it was ambushed. Lacombe, emaciated, exhausted and injured made it to the Fort where Richard Hardisty , the Chief Trader at the fort, and thankful for Lacombe's help the year before, welcomed and attended to Lacombe.
Father
Lacombe recalls " Richard Hardisty treated me like a brother that day.
I felt so sick and tired and hungry when near Rocky Mountain House that
I was ready to lie down on the snow and die. But he took our miserable
party in before his big fire ( most likely one of the two
chimneys still standing at the Historic Park) , and warmed and fed
us and clothed me, and I always feel since that day he saved my life."
Alexander
Henry recounts the incident -
"
Now these tribes ( Cree and Blackfoot) though they remained bitter enemies,
.both regarded the missionary as their friend, and the influence he had
over them was marvellous. On the night of December 4, 1865, he was sleeping
in the tent of Chief Natous of the Blackfoot, when the Crees swooped down
on them in one of their vicious attacks. Bullets whizzed through the tent
, as the chief rushed out to rally his braves.....Lacombe hurried out too
and in a powerful voice commanded the Crees to stop fighting and withdraw.
But he couldn't be heard above the noise of the battle.
He busied himself then about the camp caring to the wounded and dying. A bullet grazed his forehead but he kept on at his work. The battle continued on into the next day , until one of the Blackfoot got close to the Cree to shout : "You have wounded your black robe!.....When that message passed among the Cree they ceased firing , and withdrew hastily from the battle."
Death
Father Lacombe died near Calgary
on December 16, 1916. The remains of Father Lacombe are buried in the St.
Albert Mission cemetery in St. Albert. The heart of Father Lacombe ," This
man of good heart" is buried on the grounds of the Lacombe home in Midnapore
which he founded in 1909. For many years the heart of Father Lacombe was
displayed near the altar in the Lacombe Home chapel.
The Oblate Records at the St.
Albert Mission record that " Le Pere Lacombe meurt dans son ' Home', qui
garde son coeur dans une ampule de crystal , et is est inhume dans la crypte
de Saint - Albert , a cote de son eveque venere , Mgr. Grandin."
The
Statue
of Father Lacombe looks out on a bustling , thriving St. Albert of
50,000. The Museum is atop the hill of St. Vital Avenue. It was a quiet,
sunny afternoon as I entered the old chapel. An exchange student , Melinda,
from Quebec city showed me the chapel and directed me to the museum next
door where I met Fr.. Ebner in charge of the museum. Father Ebner, like
Lacombe, an Oblate , pointed to a nondescript desk, with three drawers
and a pull down top. It is Father Lacombe's old desk.
In
the attic Father Ebner pulled out a Lacombe Teaching Ladder with a pointer
still hooked onto the ladder. " Before you leave", Fr. Ebner said, " I
want you to see this and pulled out a beautiful full color ladder. " Is
this Fr.. Lacombe's ? " I asked . " No , " he said. Closer examination
revealed that the artist was " Walking Hand" a full blooded Cree Indian.
He had been asked to portray a ladder from the Indian perspective and his
artistry and perception is beautiful. Father Ebner presented me with a
full reproduction.
Fr.
Ebner also was able to show me the crypt beneath
the church where Father Lacombe, Bishop Grandin
and Pere Leduc the founder of Leduc Alberta lie side by side in separate
tombs. Two beautifully carved angels of poplar wood stand watch over the
tombs. The setting is peaceful.It was easy to sit awhile and reflect on
the contributions of Father Lacombe who gave so much to whites, Indians
and Metis of Alberta. Rocky Mountain House Fort has a special remembrance.