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History

Beginning of Pinehouse

Pinehouse Lake was originally known as Snake Lake until the Roman Catholic Missionaries changed the name primarily because of the negative connotation of the original name!  Circa 1930, the original inhabitants of Pinehouse were located at Souri River, about 30 km north of its present location.  Souri River was a fur trading outpost operated by the Hudson’s Bay Company.  

Life before Pinehouse

Families from from East(Lac La Ronge/Stanley Mission) and from the West(Ile-la-Crosse, Patuanak) areas began to congregate in the Souri River area before the 1930’s in order to trade fur for goods and tools with the Hudson Bay Company.  Life was meagre and hard to survive off the land.  Small log cabins scattered the lakes around Souri River and Snake Lake, and families survived from the animals and fauna surrounding the area.

Heat consisted of campfires and wood stoves while the only light was the vintage kerosene lamp.  Furs were prepared under this light; beadwork carried on late into the night in order to produce moccasins for the hunters or sell to the HBC.

Transportation consisted of dogsled in the winter, sails and canoes in the summers.

Survival tools consisted of a few bowls, an axe, a manual saw and a homemade fishing net to name a few.

Elders recall stories of a very hard existence in the Souri, Snake Lake and Pinehouse Lake.  It was not until about the 1960’s that small changes started to happen in Pinehouse.  The population was around 400 people.

Some key moments for Pinehouse

1930 – residents began moving to the current location

1945 – the Roman Catholic Church was constructed

1950 – a small building was constructed to start teaching k-4 classes

1960 – a local store was established where supplies were flown in from La Ronge

1965 – the local school was expanded to serve students up to grade 9

1977 – a road was constructed to access the uranium mines(and connected to Pinehouse)

1983 – the first LAC(Village Office) building and administration created

1984 – the first Land-Use-Harvesting Survey created(Terry Tobias)

1985 – the local store burnt down

1986 – the first radio station(later to be known as CFNK Radio) was established

1987 – new Co-op store constructed

1992 – K-grade 12 offered at Minahik Waskahigan School