07/20/2026
In 1911, a group of African-Americans who had fled oppression and violence in the southern United States created a community and built this church near Maidstone, Saskatchewan. Shiloh (Charlow) Baptist Church, which became a home for their spiritual and cultural lives, continues to draw descendants of those original Black pioneers, and other visitors from around the country and the world.
Nearly 115 years after it was built, this group of artists, dancers and writers spent several days on a pilgrimage to the church to explore its deep significance and connections to Black Prairie history. That group, the Prairie Place-Ancestors Collective, is pictured here with Leander Keith Lane, who led the restoration of the church that eventually resulted in the building being named a Provincial Heritage Property by the government of Saskatchewan in 2018.
National Trust for Canada