The Holy Name of Mary Mission
at Tsiigehtchic


Father Jean Séguin (1833-1902) (left and below right in traditional Gwich'in clothing) visited the Gwich'in at Tsiigehtchic every summer for nearly 30 years beginning in 1862. A small house was constructed for his use, but a chapel-house was not built until 1896. The landmark white church on the hill overlooking the mouth of the Arctic Red River was built in the late 1920s. (Photos taken from Aux Glaces Polaires, Indiens et Esquimaux. Duchaussois 1921)



The first mission chapel-house is long gone (Photo: F.H. Kitto/Public Archives of Canada), replaced by a more modern building which combines a residence and a chapel where mass is said on Sundays by an Oblate priest who travels to Tsiigehtchic from Inuvik.