Alexandre-Antonin Taché

Alexandre- Antonin Taché ( born July 23, 1823 in Rivière -du -Loup, Lower Canada, † June 22, 1894 in Saint -Boniface, Manitoba ) was a Canadian missionary of the Oblate Order and the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Diocese of Saint- Boniface the province of Manitoba.

Biography

Taché was the third oldest of five children, his ancestors belonged to the French explorer Louis Joliet. When his father died in January of 1826, the family moved to Boucherville, about 20 kilometers northeast of Montreal. After studying in the seminary of Saint- Hyacinthe in Sulpician and Montréal Taché entered the Oblate Order in 1844 in Longueuil. He expressed soon the desire to preach among the aborigines of the west and was sent to Saint -Boniface in the Red River colony.

There came Taché in the fall of 1845 and received by Bishop Joseph- Norbert Provencher ordination. He learned the basics of the Ojibwe language and was commissioned in Île -à -la- Crosse (now in northern Saskatchewan located ) a mission to set up. Later he also learned Cree and Athapaskisch. In 1847 he came to Fort Chipewyan. Here the Northwest diocese whose bishop he was in June 1850 and covered the whole country was Rupert; he only found out six months later by the appointment.

In November 1851 followed in Marseille episcopal ordination by Eugène de Mazenod, the founder of the Order. In June 1852 Taché was back in Saint -Boniface. After Provenchers death he took over in 1854 the diocese of Saint -Boniface. In 1869 he took part in Rome at the first Vatican Council. In January 1870, he returned at the request of the Canadian government in order to make peace after the Red River Rebellion, in the Louis Riel ( one of his former students) played a leading role. In September 1871, the diocese of Saint -Boniface was converted into an archbishopric.

Taché died in 1894 at the age of 70 years, named after him are the place Taché in the province of Manitoba and the Taché Avenue, Winnipeg.