Coming to Selkirk Alphonse Langlois was born in Terrebonne, Quebec in 1844. He married a French Arcadian woman, Marie Cartier, from New Brunswick. The large family moved from Quebec to Nova Scotia before relocating to Crookston, Minnesota in 1860. Several years later they travelled down the Red River in 1884 on a raft to St.…
Finding her Passion Amy Clemons, the great-great granddaughter of Chief Peguis was born in St. Peters, in 1906. She attended Elkhorn Residential School for five years of her education. “My people didn’t want to let me go away to school but I thought I would like going to a residential school and I really did…
Elsie (Hourie) Bear was born on December 13, 1921, into a Métis family and community of Grand Marais. Her father, Peter Hourie was a Métis man from Matlock who found work as a fisherman and cutting cordwood. Her mother, Mary was also Métis and carried on the family work of midwifery. Together with Elsie’s grandmother,…
The famous fiddler, Melvin (Mel) Joseph Clifford Bedard, was born on February 8th, 1929. Mel’s mother came from Little Black River Indian Reservation, now Black River First Nation and his father came from Quebec, just north of Montreal. They migrated to Selkirk in 1899 where Mel was born. When Mel was five, the family moved…
The Friendship Centre Movement Friendship Centres began in the 1950s as a response to the growing number of Indigenous people moving from reserves to urban areas. The movement evolved out of the increased need for specialized services to help Indigenous people in the transition. Initially, Friendship Centres only offered referrals and counselling services, but have…
Bill Shead was born in 1939 in the old Selkirk General Hospital on Idell Avenue. He was the eldest of seven siblings. Their parents Harry and Ruth (nee Asham) instilled them with pride in their Cree ancestry and identity. Bill’s father, and four other family members served in the Navy during WWII. They and Bill’s…
Robert “Bud” Stefan Oliver was Selkirk’s longest serving mayor from 1984-2002. Bud was born on July 16, 1937, in the old Selkirk General Hospital on Idell Avenue and has since lived almost his entire life in town. Bud has memories of being involved with many large developments and events in Selkirk over the years. Bud’s…
Gordon Howard was the driving force behind a thriving senior’s centre in Selkirk. In the latter years of his life, Gordon focused his energy towards improving the quality of life of senior citizens. His philosophy was that “senior citizens should not conform to the stereotypical image of being old, worn out, and useless that western…
Ruth Caroline Moody was born the youngest of four children on June 19, 1900, to Richard Compton Moody and Ester Adeline Moody. Richard had been a men’s clothing dealer in London, England. After discovering he had tuberculosis, he came to Canada in 1870 to help regain his health and started working on a farm in…
Darlene Swiderski is one of Selkirk’s elected City Councillors and Selkirk’s first elected First Nations woman councillor. Darlene’s start in community work began when she started working at Safeway in 1974. She enjoyed that the job allowed her to meet and connect with the people in Selkirk. She worked there for 27 years until 2002.…