Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 31/98) - Emile Petitot was a priest, linguist, artist, geographer -- you name it.

He was also a homosexual, and today some call him a pedophile.

An Oblate priest, he came North in the 1860s, and stayed for about 20 years. Along the way, he recorded the traditional names of almost 1,500 northern geographical features, most of which are still used.

And in turn, the Petitot River near Fort Liard, the Emile River in the Rae area and other places bear his name.

Last spring, Yellowknife city council found out the city's Petitot Park was named after a priest who has acquired an questionable reputation long after his death.

Robert Choquette, a professor of religious studies at the University of Ottawa, is the author of "The Oblate Assault on Canada's Northwest." He made extensive studies of Petitot from records available in church archives.

He says we have to be careful when examining such an issue.

According to Choquette, the records show Petitot had a relationship with a 15 or 16-year-old aboriginal boy.

Council approached the Yellowknives Dene, asking the First Nation to suggest a new name for the park. About a week ago, the band handed the issue back to the city. You named it, you change it, they told city council in a letter. (The chiefs did, however, say a name in tune with Aboriginal Solidarity Day might be appropriate).

The exercise serves as an example of the dangers of tinkering with history after the fact.

In historical terms, was a 16-year-old, who got married during the time of his relationship with Petitot, a boy, or was he an adult according to the standards of his people at the time?

If his society viewed him as a man, would it not be a homosexual relationship rather than pedophilia?

"(You could argue) a 15-year-old boy was considered an adult," Choquette said. "He hunted, he fished, he got married."

"... I think it would be wrong to highlight this issue."

Petitot was disciplined and faced excommunication by his bishop.

Stressing that she doesn't know the details of the case, fellow University of Ottawa history professor Olive Dickason, a 1997 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner at the annual Aboriginal Achievement Awards for her work in the study of Aboriginal history, says that a male at age 16 could very well have been considered an adult if he was married and a hunter.

She adds that homosexuality was tolerated in North American aboriginal societies.

There are many after whom we've named bridges, buildings and mountains whose controversial personal lives are now well known.

The question remains, what should be done with the signs that bear Petitot's name?

As with most things historical, there are no easy answers.