Established before the 17th century
First church in 1897
First pastor in 1969

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Mi'kmaq had free access to all the territory now known as Kent County. In the early 18th century, they coexisted peacefully with the Acadians who had settled among them because they were having problems with English settlers who wanted to drive them out. A treaty was finally signed in 1725.
In 1805, the New Brunswick Legislature demarcated Big Cove (now Elsipogtog) as a reserve, with twelve families. The reserve grew naturally, and in the early 20th century, the number of residents increased further due to migration from smaller reserves: Memramcook, Beaumont, Shediac, and Bouctouche.
In the beginning, the missionaries of Richibouctou-Village served the Indigenous people, who had converted to Catholicism and spoke French as much as their mother tongue.
In 1881, with the establishment of a parish in Richibouctou under the pastor Father J.E. Bannon, the Indigenous people were served from there. At that time, the federal Department of Indian Affairs took the First Nations under its jurisdiction, and they were gradually anglicized. Before 1900, the Capuchin Friars from the Restigouche Reserve came four times a year to administer the sacraments in Mi'kmaq.
In 1897, a church dedicated to Saint Anne was built on the Reserve. The priest from Richibouctou came regularly until 1964, when the Big Cove Mission was assigned to the parish of Saint-Charles until 1969.
In June 1965, the Redemptorist Fathers from the Bouctouche Retirement Home began serving Big Cove to assist the priest of Saint-Charles. Among others, we find Father Raphael Caron and especially Father Gabriel Gagnon (1966-1969). Finally, with the closure of the Bouctouche Retirement Home in the summer of 1969, Big Cove received its first resident priest in the person of Father Gagnon. Historically, its date of entry was September 1969. Since then, the Redemptorists have continued to serve and reside in the Elsipogtog (Big Cove) community.
The Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart have been working and teaching on the Reserve since 1970.
On September 22, 1971, the church burned down. Until the new church opened in 1973, religious services were held in the basement of the old school until the band offices were completed. In October 1971, Father Gagnon agreed to serve the Bass River mission, which had been founded in 1876. The Bouctouche Reserve opened its own church on April 19, 1992. And on October 11, 1993, the Indian Island Reserve church opened. In the year 2000, Bishop Ernest Léger created a personal parish (sui generis) uniting the three First Nations communities and serving the Bass River Mission.