The sounds of First Nations drumming and Métis fiddlers echoed across the shores of Lac Ste. Anne in Alberta, as Pope Francis arrived at the national historical site Tuesday for an annual pilgrimage significant to many Indigenous people.
The Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation call the lake Wakamne, or God’s Lake. The lake has long been sacred to several First Nations in the region, as well nearby Métis settlements.
It became a Catholic pilgrimage site over 100 years ago, and a national historic site in 2004.
“I have been struck by the sound of drums that accompanied me wherever I went,” the Pope said in
