Sahtu Churches

At Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories, visit Our Lady of Good Hope (pictured above), perhaps the most beautiful expression of the respect of the Oblates for the Dene. Father Emile Petitot traveled with the Dene in the early 1800s, and recorded their languages and customs. He helped to design the remarkable interior of Our Lady of Good Hope, which features a winter night’s starry sky, and depictions of local plants and wildlife, a truly unique National Historic Site.

A tiny squared-log church at Tulita seems to recall the days of the fur traders on the Mackenzie. At Colville Lake, artist and author Bern Will Brown built a church of logs which features stations of the cross painted by the artist. At Deline, the church is shaped like a tipi. And in Norman Wells, religious tolerance is demonstrated in the tiny church located beside the Heritage Centre. One side of the church is reserved for those of the Roman Catholic faith, and the other side for Protestants.