Cumberland House was a popular fur trading post and it brought people of Aboriginal and European descent together for one main reason... to make  business transactions in the fur industry!  The Aboriginal people who were skilled in trapping fur bearing animals and  preparing the pelts sold  them to the Europeans who in turn transported the furs overseas.  It is so hard to imagine that our community was established mainly because the Europeans loved wearing fur hats and clothing. 

After the 1885 Riel Resistance, many Metis families migrated to the Cumberland area from the Red River Settlement and St. Laurent, Manitoba between 1900 and World War 1.  They joined the Indian and Metis people in Cumberland House who made a living off the land by trapping, fishing and hunting. Some families had livestock and grew large gardens. 

Our Inland Delta is considered as one of the wonders of the world. It is little wonder, however, that First Nations people from Manitoba decided to settle here. The Delta ensured plenty of water, good soil for growing gardens, game and waterfowl in great numbers. By 1960, hydro power brought major changes to the livelihood of the people. The man made structure called the E.B. Campbell Dam (formerly known as the Squaw Rapids Dam) has forever changed Cumberland House over a course of 40 years.   Water levels in the many waterways fluctuated so drastically that many fur bearing animals, wild game and waterfowl  populations have been severely depleted. 

In 1976, Cumberland House sued the Saskatchewan Power Corporation for damages incurred by the hydro power dam and in March 1989, a settlement was reached.  The Cumberland House Development Corporation was established to administer the funds and to help the community with development. 

The Indian and Metis people have essentially been forced to change livelihoods in order to survive and diversification seems to be the answer to the future.  In the community today, there is a blend of the past and the present.  The goal to diversify and to encourage different ways of making a living will never outweigh the love of the land so clearly visible in the people of Cumberland House to this very day.  There will always be a little history in every one of us as we continue to look into what the future holds.

Ovide Charlebois completed his theological studies in Ottawa in 1897 and was then posted to St. Joseph’s Mission at Cumberland House. 

When he arrived at Cumberland House he saw the need to establish a permanent school.  He along with members of the community built the first permanent school house.  This single room school house was built with logs and still stands today.
 

Father Charlebois was instrumental in establishing educational and health institutions throughout the north.

In 1910, he became Bishop with the Keewatin Diocese, a vast area that covered many miles.

He travelled throughout the North and lived just like the Cree people.  For transportation, he paddled by canoe in the summer and by dog team in the winter, living off the land by surviving on wild foods such as fish and moose. 

When Bishop Charlebois died, he was buried in The Pas, Manitoba.  The elders say that white doves were flying in the sky as he was laid to rest. 

Education of our children began within our own families; we have taught them our language, our culture, and the skills of our people--everything they needed to survive and succeed in life.

Formal schooling began in 1839-40 by the Anglican Church missionaries.  The first teacher was a Henry Budd who later became the first ordained Native minister in the Anglican church.  The children were taught the Bible, reading, writing and basic arithmetic.

As the number of Metis settlers grew who were predominately Roman Catholic, it changed the community.  Father Charlebois was posted to St. Joseph's Mission at Cumberland House and he, along with local community members erected a log schoolhouse which still stands today. 

The Anglican Church Mission school was eventually closed and because the population in Charlebois School greatly increased, there was a need for a larger school.  A two classroom school (with multi grades) and later a larger 2 storey building with 4 classrooms was built.  With these two buildings students from grades 1 to 8 were accommodated.  Any further schooling was done outside the community, mostly in Prince Albert.  For the most part, the teachers in the school were nuns of the St. Joseph’s Mission.

The current building that is being used now was built in 1964 and added to in 1973 and 1986-87.  As the population grew on the Cumberland House First Nations Reserve, they saw the need for their own school and built one to accommodate their students since most of them were attending Charlebois School.  The population of the present day Charlebois School was close to 400 in 1998-99, but with the opening of the new school on the reserve in September of 1999, Charlebois’ population decreased to about 220.