September 3, 1980

Fighting to

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St. Paul’s built for indians

By CAROLE STAFFORD

1986 will mark Vancouver's centennial,

the

centennial of the city’s Great Fire and the cen-
tennial of St. Paul's Indian church on the Indian
Mission reserve in North Vancouver. It ts hoped
that well before the celebrations begin, $400,000
worth of repairs and restoration to the historic
church overlooking Burrard Inlet will be com-

pleted
St Paul s has been
identified as’ the most

significant heritage structure
on the North Shore” by the
Heritage Advisory Com
mittee of the City of North
Vancouver and itis expected
the Hastornne Sites and
Monuments Board of
Canada will designate the
building as a National
Histone Monument when u
meets in October
The twin -spired
for years an

church,
official laad
mark for ships entering the
harbor, has stood witness to

a great deal of the city’s

history and undergone a
number of changes itself
over Uhe years The church's
own history begins about 20
years before the
establishment of the present
building
The first missionaries of
the order of the Oblates of
Mary Immaculate (OMI)
came from France to Bevtish
Columbia during the middle
of the 19th century At this
tume. the Squamish Indians
had an

unruly) repulabon
and, according to Kay
Cronin, an her book Cross in
the Wilderness had

ave a landmark

become almost un-
manageable since the advent

of the white man”

“ORDER OF THE DAY”

“kasy vicams) for the
lower element among the
early settlers, liquor traffic
went unchecked among
them, while debauchery and
murder were the order of the
day “

They were apparently so
troublesome that the army
chief, Colonel Moody, ts
reported to have threatened
to wipe out the entire tribe
with gunfire

Determined to save his

people Chict Snatt ap
proached Oblate Father
Leon Fouquet to imtercede
and offered to devote the

rest oof has life towards
converting the whole tribe to
Catbohcism Fouquet agreed

to establish a mission if Snatt

Tel. 985-2131

could find a suitable site.
After a considerable search,
Ustdlawn (North Vancouver),
then occupied by only a few
iinerant Indians who had set
up a temporary duck hunting
camp. was agreed upon

Thus in 1866, a small
chapel called Sacred Heart
was built and it was the first

Catholic church to be
erected ino what is now
(sreater Vancouver The
mission bul up around if
and the hhtthe chapel under

the direction of the Oblates
served the Squamish people
for 20 years

In 1KA4 the chapel
replaced with a single spied
church

wits

which

was Con
secrated Junc 13) L886 the
day the two month old City
of Vancouver was razed lo
the ground ino a few fiery

hours

CONTINUED ON PAGE (C2

FATHER HARO-
LD O’CONNOR has
been the priest of
St. Paul’s for the
past four years and
is one of the driving
forces in the major
restoration project
for the 94-year-old
church in North
Vancouver. (Terry
Peters photo)

Re natn! GOO

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