Duck Lake is a town in the

boreal forest Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by pinophyta, coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. I ...

of central

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. Its location is north of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

and south of

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

on Highway 11, in the Rural Municipality of Duck Lake No. 463. Immediately to the north of Duck Lake is the south block of the

Nisbet Provincial Forest The Nisbet Provincial Forest is a provincially protected mixed-wood forest surrounded by Aspen parkland in North Central Saskatchewan, Canada. It consists of a north block north of the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and a south block bet ...

. The

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

people are

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

and the

band government In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...

of the

Beardy's and Okemasis' Cree Nation Beardy's and Okemasis' Cree Nation is a Cree First Nations band government in Saskatchewan, Canada. Their reserves include: * Beardy's & Okemasis' 96 & 97 * Beardy's & Okemasis' 96 & 97A * Beardy's & Okemasis' 96 & 97B * Beardy's & Okemasis ...

is located here. Duck Lake was home to one of the last operating schools in the

Canadian Indian residential school system The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by various Christian churches. The sch ...

, the St. Michael's Indian Residential School (Duck Lake Indian Residential School), which closed in 1996.

History

Duck Lake () was one of the five

Southbranch Settlement Southbranch Settlement () was the name ascribed to a series of French Métis settlements on the Canadian prairies in the 19th century, in what is today the province of Saskatchewan. Métis settlers began making homes here in the 1860s and 1870s, ...

s settled by French-speaking

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

from Manitoba in the 1860s and 1870s. A

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Mission was established in Duck Lake in 1874 by Father André O.M.I. and by 1888 the village had a school, a post office (called Stobart), a flour mill (

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

) and a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

. From 1882 to 1905 Duck Lake was within the

District of Saskatchewan The District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's North-West Territories. Formed in 1882, it was later enlarged then abolished with the creation of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. Much of the are ...

, one of several

districts of the Northwest Territories The vastness of Canada's Northwest Territories meant that for much of its history it was divided into several districts for ease of administration. The number and size of these territorial districts varied as other provinces and territories of Ca ...

. In 1885, Duck Lake was the site of the

Battle of Duck Lake A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, a conflict between Métis warriors and the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

, at the start of the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (), was an armed rebellion of Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising of Cree and Assiniboine mostly in the District of Saskatchewan, against the Government of Canada, Canadian government. Important events i ...

. At Duck Lake, the Prince Albert Trail, which ran from Regina to Prince Albert, crossed the

Carlton Trail The Carlton Trail was the primary land transportation route in the Canadian Northwest for most of the 19th century, connecting Fort Carlton to Edmonton along a line of intermediate places. It was part of a trail network that stretched from the ...

and it marked the halfway point between the Métis headquarters at

Batoche Batoche, which lies between Prince Albert and Saskatoon in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, was the site of the historic Battle of Batoche during the North-West Rebellion of 1885. The battle resulted in the defeat of Louis Riel and his M ...

and the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

Fort Carlton Fort Carlton was a Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post from 1795 until 1885. It was located along the North Saskatchewan River not far from Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, Duck Lake, in what is now the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The fort wa ...

Historic

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massin ...

style All Saints Anglican Church built in 1896 is a municipal

heritage site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

. Its historic cemetery contains the graves of some of those who fought in the Battle of Duck Lake as well as those of other pioneers of the community.Canada's Historic Places: All Saints Anglican Church
/ref> The 1973 western ''

Alien Thunder ''Alien Thunder'' (also known as ''Dan Candy's Law'') is a 1974 Canadian Northern film directed by Claude Fournier and starring Donald Sutherland, Gordon Tootoosis, Chief Dan George, Kevin McCarthy, and Francine Racette. Its original screenpl ...

'' was partially filmed here.

Demographics

In the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Duck Lake had a population of 579 living in 202 of its 232 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 569. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Notable people

* Gabriel Dumont - Leader of Métis forces in the North-West Rebellion 1885.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Duck Lake No. 463, Saskatchewan Towns in Saskatchewan Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Division No. 15, Saskatchewan

History

Demographics

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading

External links