Tansi! You have just found the Stanley Mission Website. Stanley Mission is located on the Churchill River about 50 air miles northeast of La Ronge, Saskatchewan in the beautiful Pre-Cambrian shield. The Churchill River bears evidence of human activity from many hundreds of years ago. Pictographs painted on the granite rocks with natural red ochre colours show hunting scenes which the early inhabitants recorded as they ventured out to find food for their families. This picturesque community was a major fur trade centre in centuries past, and many still practice the traditional lifesyle of trapping, hunting and fishing.
The name Amachewespimawin comes from the Cree language and is translated as "the place where hunters shot their arrows up the cliffs". Oral history tells us that in the days before the church, hunters would shoot arrows up the cliffs on Mountain Lake from their canoes. If the arrows went over the top, then they would have a good hunting season. If the arrows failed to go over the top of the cliffs, they would have an unsucessful year. When the missionaries arrived in this area around 1840, they discouraged the practice by breaking the arrows. Soon after, the community was converted to Christanity, although some still practice traditional spirituality today.
Stanley Mission is also a centre for many other attractions, including Twin Falls, ancient Indian rock paintings, the roaring Big Stanley and Little Stanley Rapids, and the scenic Nistowiak Falls, which carries the waters of Lac La Ronge into the Churchill River. Just downstream from Nistowiak are Potter Rapids, All of these locations host fine fishing camps.
Stanley Mission is divided into two parts; the Hamlet of Stanley Mission and the Stanley Mission Reserve, which is part of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. There is a health clinic, education facilities from kindergarten to post-secondary, and two stores; the Northern (formerly the Hudson's Bay Company), and the community-owned Co-op store. Three RCMP members serve this community of around 1200. There is year round access by gravel road for some of the finest wilderness adventures anywhere. Please browse the page to find out some interesting facts about this unique northern Saskatchewan community.
Here are a couple of pictures of Stanley Mission today and in the past.
