{"id":16608,"date":"2025-02-15T16:51:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T16:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/15\/no-mans-land-descendants-of-saskatchewans-first-black-community-proud-of-their-history\/"},"modified":"2025-02-15T16:51:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T16:51:20","slug":"no-mans-land-descendants-of-saskatchewans-first-black-community-proud-of-their-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/15\/no-mans-land-descendants-of-saskatchewans-first-black-community-proud-of-their-history\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No man\u2019s land\u2019: Descendants of Saskatchewan\u2019s first Black community proud of their history"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The one-room Shiloh Baptist Church, constructed from hand-hewn poplar logs nestled in a small grove near a cemetery with 37 white crosses, is a poignant reminder of Saskatchewan\u2019s first Black settlement.<\/p>\n

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There are still descendants of the Shiloh people, who moved 29 kilometres north of Maidstone, Sask., from Oklahoma in the early 1900s as part of the Great Migration of Black settlers from the United States, lured by the promise of free land and a better life.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tJust outside of Maidstone, Sask. sits the Shiloh Baptist Church, established in 1912 it was once the focal point of the community.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
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\n\t\t\t\t\tLeander Lane\/ Shiloh Baptist Church and Cemetery Restoration Society\t\t\t\t<\/cite>
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Shiloh was an ancient city and sanctuary in ancient Israel, signifying spiritual refuge and community gathering.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou\u2019re coming over to this no man\u2019s land. You have no idea and people have probably never seen Black people,\u201d said Crystal Mayes, whose great-grandmother Mattie was born into slavery and made her way to Saskatchewan with her husband, Joseph.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re coming from a farming background, but farming in Oklahoma isn\u2019t like farming in Saskatchewan. Then you have to deal with the winters and make a way for yourself. It took an amazing amount of courage and determination and fortitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In the early 1900s, an increase in discrimination in the American South led to an exodus of African Americans to communities in Alberta and near Maidstone. A dozen families made the move to Saskatchewan from Oklahoma for the promise of free land.<\/p>\n

At its peak, about 50 families lived in the area.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere was a lot of information coming from Canada that they were giving land away if you wanted to break it. They actually sent two people down to Saskatchewan to check out what it was like to see if it was real,\u201d Mayes said.<\/p>\n

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Mayes said her great-grandmother was a midwife and delivered both Black and white babies during her decades there. Over time, most other Black families wanted better opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong story short, the families just moved away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayes said her family didn\u2019t experience a lot of discrimination in Saskatchewan, likely because Mattie was a midwife, but discrimination was still quite present at the federal level.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tA plaque designating the Shiloh Church and cemetery a provincial heritage site. was unveiled in August 2019.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
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\n\t\t\t\t\tNathaniel Dove \/ Global News\t\t\t\t<\/cite>
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When the migration hit its peak between 1909 and 1911, a federal order-in-council barred Black people from Canada, deeming them \u201cunsuitable to the climate and requirements\u201d of the country. It was later repealed.<\/p>\n

Leander Lane has written a book, \u201cThe Road to Shiloh,\u201d about the province\u2019s first Black community and his great-grandfather, Julius Caesar Lane, also born into slavery.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere was quite a lot of racism. The Canadian government wanted American farmers, but they obviously didn\u2019t want Black farmers,\u201d Lane said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government tried to discourage them any way they could, and the white people were screaming blue murder. There were front-page ads in the newspaper about negroes taking over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lane said those who came to Saskatchewan were probably unaware of the weather, and the back-breaking work required them \u201cto hack their way through the bush to their farms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shiloh Baptist Church received Saskatchewan heritage designation in 2018, but Lane said many people don\u2019t know about the province\u2019s Black history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s been ignored. It\u2019s just people don\u2019t know. They don\u2019t talk about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m involved with the Shiloh Baptist Church \u2026 and even people in the area \u2026 a lot of people I came across had never heard of the church, let alone the Black history.\u201d<\/p>\n