Share on Facebook
Share on X
Share by Email
Share on Google Classroom
Grouard, Alberta, Unincorporated Place. Grouard, incorporated as a town in 1913 but dissolved in 1944, is located at the west end of Lesser Slave Lake, about 35 km northeast of High Prairie. St. Bernard Mission's church and cemetery in Grouard are recognized as a historic place.
History
In 1802, the North West Company built a post off Buffalo Bay at the west end of the lake, which, in 1821, became a Hudson's Bay Company post. In 1872, St Bernard's Roman Catholic Mission was built nearby. At Stony Point, about 10 km south, Treaty 8 was negotiated with the district Cree in 1899. Here, a small community evolved and was named after the noted Oblate priest, Father Émile Grouard. A Dominion Land Office was built there in 1909, and the trail to Peace River Crossing became a major transportation artery.
In 1915, Grouard's population was about 2,000. In late 1914, the town was bypassed by the railway, and soon thereafter, the town collapsed. Settlement continued to the north, however, and in 1970 a Northern Lakes College (vocational) campus was built near St Bernard's Mission. The college maintained the Native Cultural Arts Museum. The 1903 St. Bernard's Mission church and cemetery, also known as Grouard Mission Church, was designated as one of Canada's Historic Places in 1977.
Residential School
The Grouard Indian Residential School, also known as St. Bernard’s Residential School, in Grouard was operated by the Roman Catholic Church from 1894 until 1957 (see Residential Schools in Canada, Truth and Reconciliation Commission). The residential school is included on the online Memorial site maintained by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR).
The Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology (IPIA) at the University of Alberta found approximately 169 potential unmarked graves on the property in 2022. Kapawe’no First Nation funded this research. The names of 14 children who died at St. Bernard's are listed on the NCTR site.
Present Day
Grouard is the administrative office of the Kapawe'no First Nation and contains the Kapawe'no Band Office. Grouard is also home to the Grouard Northland School, the Kapawe’no First Nation School, the Northern Lakes College and the Kapawe'no Daycare Centre.
The Board of Governors of Northern Lakes College gifted the Native Cultural Arts Museum to Kapawe’no First Nation in 2026.
