Monday 5 December 2011

La Loche Cemeteries

Evening sun over the cemetery on La Loche Avenue

Oldest cemetery 
The La Loche Cemetery.
There are over 300 graves. Each one has a story.








The La Loche Cemetery, once located out of town, was a clearing in the forest in the 1960's.
Today there are houses on three sides.

Areas of trees have been left on the edges making it a quiet area for residents to visit. 
Many types of wild plants grow along the paths. 
Wild strawberries especially grow well in the sandy soil.


An unmarked grave.


Part of the children's section.

Handcrafted. 
A northern custom is to surround the grave
with a fence.


An elaborate wooden cross marks this grave.
A grave being dug in winter needs a fire to thaw the ground. This one took two days to complete. It was -35 C.
.....view more photos of La Loche Cemetery

La Loche Cemeteries......from The History of La Loche

Cemeteries are also located at West La Loche, Descharme Lake and Bull's House.
Along the Portage there were once a few marked graves from the fur trade era according to the following Oblate account in 1933.
“We started walking the trail hoping to find a few traces of the past. But this place, like the vast oceans keep their secrets. 
Nature and the elements soon erase every trace of man. Our guide showed us a place of burial. 
The cross had been razed by fire. Other crosses had marked the graves of a few more adventurers. These too had disappeared.”http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/8473/16.html?qid=peelbib|moraud||score