Little Hills was the site of a ceremony to place a headstone at the gravesite of Chief James Roberts. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

remembering history

LLRIB honours Chief James Roberts by erecting headstone at gravesite

Jul 30, 2019 | 8:31 AM

The chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) who signed Treaty 6 was honoured Monday during a special ceremony where his gravesite was marked with a headstone.

“There was a lot of children present to witness today and it’s important for them to get curious and learn the history of who we are, where we come from and that we did sign a treaty,” LLRIB Chief Tammy Cook-Searson said at the event. “That’s why we are here today to honour Chief James Roberts and it happens to mark the 130^th year our treaty was signed.”

On Feb. 11, 1889, Chief James Roberts signed an adhesion to Treaty 6 on behalf of the LLRIB to form what was called the James Roberts Band at the time. Roberts served as chief from 1888 to 1901 before the position went to Chief Amos Charles. Roberts was born in October 1950 in Old Fort 156B and passed away Nov. 3, 1901 at the age of 51. He was buried at Little Hills reserve, which is a 20-minute boat ride from Bigstone Landing.

That is where the ceremony took place Monday afternoon and people were shuttled from the boat launch to the reserve. It also happened to be the Little Hills Gathering, which Cook-Searson stated occurs every year and consists mostly of residents of Hall Lake.

“Every year they come out here,” she said. “They do things with the kids, traditional medicine gathering, getting fish and moose, and just doing traditional activities.”

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According to LLRIB Coun. Norman Ross who represents Hall Lake, it was a member of his community who wanted to see a headstone erected at the site. He said they started fundraising and much of the money to pay for the monument came from the band’s Cameco collaboration agreement. Ross was also happy to see so many people attend the ceremony such as Prince Albert Grand Council Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte and other leaders.

This headstone was placed at Little Hills in honour of Chief James Roberts. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

“A lot of our ancestors are buried here, so we come here every year just to think about them and do this for the kids,” Ross said. “It was really, really good for us and the leadership who showed up. They were really good to us and they helped us a lot. They brought a lot of history.”

Another attendee at the ceremony was 91-year-old Elder Albert Ross, who was born in the Little Hills area. He mentioned people left Little Hills for La Ronge and Hall Lake around 1954 when a local school burned down. For those who remained at the reserve, Albert Ross stated life became more difficult as field officers with the RCMP began heavily monitoring residents in the area using planes.

Albert Ross also noted he would like to see more people use the land at Little Hills, adding it was the first time in a longtime he had seen so many people there.

“We should all respect this place here because a lot of old people were born here,” he said. “There were a lot of people even before I was born. There’s hardly anyone now who can tell the stories of it.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno