Onésime Dorval
At a time when the North-West Territories were mainly populated by First Nations, Métis and a handful of pioneers, schoolhouses were a rare sight and those that existed were run by missionaries. Before Onésime Dorval, there were no certified school teachers.
Born in 1845 near Sainte-Scholastique, Quebec, Onésime had poor health and wasn’t accepted into the religious community in which she did her noviciate. With her teaching certificate in hand and inspired by the tales of missionary Father Albert Lacombe O.M.I., she left Montreal in 1877 for the Red River Colony in Manitoba, where she taught for 3 years. In 1880, Onésime joined a Métis caravan and made her way to Saint-Albert (modern-day Alberta) in 72 days. There, she joined the Order of Saint-Francis. After spending a year at the Saint-Laurent de Grandin mission, she went on to teach for 13 years in Battleford, then 18 years in Batoche, among others. Her career as Saskatchewan’s first certified teacher came to an end in 1915, after 51 years of service.
Over the course of her life, Onésime adopted two orphans, Marie Giroux, from Quebec, and Georgine d’Amours, a Western Métis. She had a certain talent for painting, creating vibrant pictures with her fingers and nails. She passed away in Rosthern in 1932, at the age of 87. Her funeral was held at Duck Lake and was widely attended by Whites, Métis, and First Nations people.