In 1952, the Manitoba government decided the Dene were killing off too many caribou around Little Duck Lake and convinced the federal government to move the entire community away from its traditional hunting grounds.
The Sayisi Dene had been dumped on the tundra in an area known as The Flats. They had no resources, no housing and no money and were left to fend for themselves through Churchill's bitterly cold winters and bug-infested summers.
Community members built shelters using material from the nearby garbage dump and survived on food scraps.
On Tuesday, Carolyn Bennett, Canada's Indigenous and northern affairs minister, apologized to the Sayisi Dene, acknowledging they were abandoned without proper food, shelter or support following the relocation.
Along with the apology — another is being made in Winnipeg on Wednesday — the federal government is giving the community $33.6 million in compensation.
In 1973, the Sayisi Dene moved back to their Barren-ground Caribou-hunting life, establishing a new home in Tadoule Lake, 250 kilometres west of Churchill.
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Photo: Carl Mackenzie, previously published in the book Northern Manitoba 1957 – 1962, by Carl and Alan MacKenzie