Economic development sometimes involves thinking outside the box for Sask. First Nation

Peepeekisis Cree Nation announced plans to create an on-reserve funeral home. 

Plans for the Peepeekisis Funeral Home was developed by the MÎWÂSIN Development Group, a development company owned by Peepeekisis Cree Nation and Steel River Group Ltd, an Indigenous owned management company.

The full-service funeral home will be located in the hamlet of Lorlie, Saskatchewan, and will accommodate up to 200 people in it’s facility, which will feature a kitchen, meeting room, grand hall, and outdoor fire pit.

The funeral home will also be able to accommodate all types of burial requests, including cremation and supplying caskets. 

“We felt that there was such a big need for our community and surrounding community to build something really special and unique, and really customize things around First Nations traditions,” said Keegan Montgrand, business development at Peepeekisis Development Ltd. 

“We are really accepting and open to all religions and denominations to come and use our facilities. And, we want to create a place where we can smudge and do all the First Nations protocols,” he said.

Construction on the funeral home will start in spring of 2025, with the goal of completion in summer of 2026. Montgrand said they hope to employ between 100 to 125 people from the community during construction. In 2026, when it’s complete and operational, he said they’ll employ about ten people full time. 

The funeral home is greatly needed in the community, said Montgrand, as they have previously were required to use the gymnasium at local school to host funeral services.

“It was really difficult for everyone – especially the young ones. They would go to a relatives funeral and then be expected to go back and play in that same gym a few days later. It was very hard on a lot of community members, both mentally and emotionally,” he said.

Montgrand expects the funeral home to have a multifaceted impact on the community, from a social and cultural impact to a financial impact, where the First Nations can reinvest profits back into community infrastructure, he said.

“This place is much needed,” said Montgrand. “I imagine many First Nations across Canada are facing a similar issue (of needing a dedicated funeral home).”

The funeral home is expected to cost around $4.5 million. The First Nation is currently engaging in tenders with construction companies.

This story was originally published in Eagle Feather News. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.