The Baptiste Shiloh church of a room, built from poppliers cut by hand nestled in a small grove near a cemetery with 37 white crosses, is a poignant reminder of the first black colony of the Saskatchewan.
There are still descendants of the Shiloh people, who moved 29 kilometers north of Maidstone, in Sask., Oklahoma in the early 1900s as part of the great migration of black settlers in the United States, attracted by the promise of a free land and a better life.
Just outside Maidstone, Sask. is the Baptiste Shiloh church, established in 1912, it was once the focal point of the community.
Leander Lane / Shiloh Baptist Church and Cemetery Restoration Society
Shiloh was an ancient city and a sanctuary in ancient Israel, meaning spiritual refuge and community gathering.
“You come to this No. Terre. You have no idea and people have probably never seen blacks, “said Crystal Mayes, whose great-grandmother Mattie was born in slavery and went to Saskatchewan with her husband , Joseph.
“You come from an agricultural environment, but agriculture in Oklahoma is not like agriculture in Saskatchewan. Then you have to deal with winters and make a way for yourself. It took an incredible amount of courage, determination and courage. »»
Shiloh Baptist Church near Maidstone, Sask. is shown on an un dated document photo. It was the first black community in the province over 100 years ago.
The Canadian Press / Ho
In the early 1900s, an increase in discrimination in the South American led to an exodus of African-Americans to Alberta communities and near Maidstone. A dozen families moved to Saskatchewan from Oklahoma for the promise of free land.
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At its peak, around fifty families lived in the region.
“There was a lot of information from Canada that they gave land if you wanted to break it. In fact, they sent two people to Saskatchewan to check what it was to see if it was real, “said Mayes.
Mayes said his great-grandmother was a midwife and had delivered babies in black and white during his decades. Over time, most other black families wanted better opportunities.
“In short, families have just walked away.”
Mayes said that his family had not suffered a lot of discrimination in Saskatchewan, probably because Mattie was a midwife, but discrimination was still quite present at the federal level.
A plaque designating the Shiloh church and the cemetery a provincial heritage site. was unveiled in August 2019.
Nathaniel Dove / Global News
When migration reached its peak between 1909 and 1911, a federal order prohibited the blacks of Canada, deeming them “unsuitable for climate and requirements” of the country. He was then repealed.
Leander Lane wrote a book, “The Road to Shiloh”, about the first black community in the province and its great-grandfather, Julius Caesar Lane, also born in slavery.
“There was a lot of racism. The Canadian government wanted American farmers, but they obviously did not want black farmers, “said Lane.
“The government has tried to discourage them in any way possible, and the whites shouted a blue murder. There were first -page advertisements in the newspaper on the fact that the blacks took over. »»
Lane said that those who came to Saskatchewan were probably not aware of the weather, and that the re -evaluation works force them “to make their way on the bush to their farms”.
The Shiloh Baptist Church received the designation of the Saskatchewan heritage in 2018, but Lane said that many people did not know the history of blacks in the province.
“I wouldn’t say it was ignored. It’s just that people don’t know. They don’t talk about it, “he said.
“I am involved in the Baptiste Church of Shiloh … and even the people of the region … Many people I met had never heard of the church, not to mention black history.”
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press