Holy Cross Mission and the Wiikwemkoong (or Wikwemikong) Unceded Territory are located on Manitoulin Island, also known as Mnidoo Mnis or Odawa Mnis. Before European contact, a confederacy of Anishinaabek tribes composed of the Odawa, Ojibway and Pottawatomi controlled the Northern Great Lakes areas including Manitoulin Island. Fr. Joseph Poncet, SJ, was the first European to set foot on the island, in 1648. He was the only Jesuit to minister on the island until 1844, when the Jesuits returned, and they have continued their ministry since then.
Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic church in Northern Ontario. Construction began in 1849 and the church was officially dedicated in 1852. All the mason work during construction was done by the Anishinaabe people. In 1850, a community mill was used for cutting timber into boards for the church construction crew. The principal constructors of the Wiikwemkoong church were the Bemanakinong, Wakegijig, Gabow, and Kenogameg (Kinoshameg) families.
In 1954 the church, and the adjoining hall and residence, were destroyed by fire. Only the stone walls of the church and the residence (which is now called the Ruins) remained standing. Immediately after this tragedy, local businessmen and tradespeople from Wiikwemkoong planned, financed, and re-built the church.
Besides the Holy Cross Church, there are three other Catholic churches in Wiikwemkoong. Our Lady of Grace Church, in South Bay, was built in 1910 and so celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2010. Fundraising is underway and renovations have begun for this beautiful, old stone church. The current church in Kaboni, St. Anthony Daniel, was built in 1953 or so. The Saint Ignatius (Gchitwaa Niyaanhs) Church was built in 1975, replacing an older church in the local community of Buzwah.
The churches of Wiikwemkoong contain a mixture of both European and Indigenous art, including paintings and sculptures by local artists such as Zoey Wood-Salomon, James Jacko, and Nikki Manitowabi. The vestments worn by priests and deacons are made of leather and were produced by local artisans. There is an effort being made in today’s local church toward reconciliation and toward inculturation, which can be understood as the incorporation of local culture into not only the artwork and the vestments, but into the liturgy of the Mass and other prayer services.
