The community stretches for a mile and a half along the shoreline, with the reserve near the year-round open water below the rapids and the non-Treaty homes facing onto Shagwenaw Lake.
In 1916, Father Louis Moraud became the resident priest of Patuanak and served the English River Band area until his death in 1965.
Prior to 1968, the children were sent to the Indian Residential schools at Beauval and Ile a la Crosse, while their families went north to trap.
The traditional activities of the people of Patuanak can be seen on all sides during visitations, such as moose hide tanning, beadwork of various sorts and birch toboggans.
On April 27, 1885, during the North-West Rebellion, most of the personnel and dependants of the Hudson's Bay Company Post and the Roman Catholic Mission of Île-à-la-Crosse, who were alarmed at the looting of the Green Lake Post the previous day, fled to a small wooded island north of Patuanak and were helped by the Denesuline of the area.