The Rural Municipality of St. François Xavier is a
rural municipality
A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries.
These include:
* Rural municipality (Canada), Rural municipalities in Canada, a Lists of municipalities in Canada, type of municipa ...
(RM) in
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
, Canada, lying west-northwest of
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
. It is part of the
Central Plains Region as well as the
Winnipeg Metro Region
The Winnipeg Metropolitan Region (formerly called the Winnipeg Capital Region and the Manitoba Capital Region) is a metropolitan area in the Canada, Canadian Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Manitoba located in the Red River Valle ...
. It had a population of 1,411 in the
2016 census.
It is home to the community of
St. François Xavier, the second-oldest settlement in Manitoba.
History
The area around current-day St. François, commonly known as White Horse Plain (named after a local legend; ), was inhabited by
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 ...
peoples such as the
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
Sioux
The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...
.
Around 1824,
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 ...
leader
Cuthbert Grant received a
land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
on White Horse Plain and founded a settlement. He was soon joined by a number of Métis families. The settlement was originally called ''Grantown''.
[Morton, William. "Memorable Manitobans: Cuthbert James Grant (1793-1854)", Manitoba Historical Society](_blank)
/ref>
In 1828, the Parish of St. François Xavier (named for St. François-Xavier) was established at White Horse Plain by priests from the mission at Saint-Boniface as the second parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
in the North West. The Grantown settlement subsequently took its name from the parish, and St. François Xavier became a municipality in 1880.Grey Nuns
The Sisters of Charity of Montreal, formerly called The Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général of Montreal and more commonly known as the Grey Nuns of Montreal, is a Canadian religious institute of Roman Catholic religious sisters, found ...
also had an educational and religious presence in the area for 118 years, ending their involvement in 1968 after their nunnery
A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community.
The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican Comm ...
fell in disrepair.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the 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%, which is sli ...
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 ...
, St. François Xavier had a population of 1,449 living in 494 of its 514 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,411. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Notable people
* Cuthbert Grant — a Métis leader
* Pascal Breland — a Métis political leader, landowner, and negotiator
* Patrice Breland — reeve for the RM of St. François Xavier from 1891 to 1892 and from 1895 to 1900
* Pierre Falcon
Pierre Falcon (sometimes referred to as Pierriche, meaning 'Pierre the rhymer'; 4 June 1793 – 21 October 1876) was a Métis fur trader and pioneer living in what is today known as Manitoba. He was also a well known composer and singer.
F ...
— a Métis songwriter
See also
* List of francophone communities in Manitoba
* St. François Xavier Airport
References
R.M. of St. Francois Xavier Community Profile
Community Profile: St. François Xavier Rural Municipality, Manitoba; Statistics Canada
External links
Official website
Map of St. François Xavier R.M. at Statcan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rural Municipality of St. Francois Xavier
St. Francois Xavier
St. Francois Xavier