MÉTIS LIVES, PAST AND PRESENT

A Review Essay

HEATHER DEVINE

What It Is to Be a Métis: The Stories and Recollections of the Elders of the Prince George Métis Society Mike Evans, Marcelle Gareau, Lisa Krebs, Leona Neilson, and Heidi Standeven, editors Prince George: UNBC Press, 1999. 265 pp. Illus. $29.95 paper.

/ Kneuo Tw 0 Métis Wo m en : The Lives of Dorothy Scofield and Georgina Houle Young Gregory Scofield Victoria: Polestar, 1999. 139 pp. $16.95 paper.

Thunder through My Veins: Memories of a Métis Childhood Gregory Scofield Toronto: Harper Flamingo, 1999. 202 pp. $24 cloth.

HE LAST TWENTY YEARS have The New Peoples: Being and Becoming seen a marked resurgence of Métis in North America. Not only does Tinterest in the Métis. This re­ this book contain several ground­ vival is due in part to the recognition breaking theoretical essays on Métis of the Métis as a distinct Aboriginal ethnogenesis, but it also features com­ people within the Canadian Con­ prehensive studies detailing the stitution as well as to the 1985 cen­ origins and development of a number tenary of the Northwest Rebellion and of biracial communities in Canada and the execution of the Métis leader the United States. However, the book Louis Riel. It has been estimated that falls short in one key area. The articles, as many as two million Canadians by and large, are third-person, scholarly could legitimately claim Métis status. interpretations of Métis history, Not surprisingly, the social, economic, culture, and identity The perspectives and political ramifications of these of Métis people themselves regarding numbers have engendered lively their experiences are largely absent. debate over that most elusive of con­ Life histories of Métis people can cepts, the Métis identity. be found in biographical dictionaries, Certainly one of the most successful in old-timers' reminiscences that have attempts to address the topic of Métis been gathered and published, and in identity has been the 1985 anthology scholarly and popular biographies.

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Métis-authored works have appeared Autobiography has its shortcomings, only in the last three decades. Because however. For example, autobiography, scholars of Native ancestry are few and by its very nature, is intrinsically far between in universities and colleges, biased. One can never assume that the much of the new writing by Métis is entire life story is being provided, that being produced outside of the aca­ the facts are entirely accurate, or that demy. It is being published by insti­ the chronicler is neutral in his or her tutions and media outlets administered assessment of past personalities or by and for Aboriginal people or by events. Autobiographies are also very small publishing houses devoted to particularistic. Making broad gener­ politics and culture outside of the alizations about ethnic identity based mainstream. Another characteristic of on one or two autobiographical assess­ these publications is that they are ments is a risky undertaking at best. overwhelmingly autobiographical in At their worst, when produced by nature. individuals with social, political, or Biographical works in general, and economic agendas, autobiographies autobiographical works in particular, can devolve into thinly disguised have a somewhat chequered repu­ propaganda pieces. tation among scholars, despite the fact Which brings us to a consideration that virtually all historians utilize of three recent publications docu­ biography to some degree in their menting the life experiences of BC research and teaching and the fact that Métis people. Without going into the methodology used to generate life detail here, it should be noted that the histories has become increasingly unique history of Native policy in more sophisticated. British. Columbia has resulted in an In its favour, autobiography has an indigenous population that, until important role to play in under­ recently, was largely bereft of treaty standing the lived experiences of relationships with the Crown. Until ethnocultural groups, both historical the recent Nisga'a accord, the only and contemporary. For those racial, treaties were those that James Douglas religious, and cultural minorities negotiated with Native bands living in estranged from the mainstream insti­ the vicinity of Victoria, Nanaimo, and tutions responsible for shaping - and Fort Rupert between 1850 and 1854, suppressing - cultural identity, auto­ and Treaty 8, which several remote biography offers freedom of expression Native communities in northeastern without the editorial contamination of British Columbia chose to enter in 1899. mainstream "experts." At its best, The policy of the BC government, until autobiographical writing provides an recently, has been to ignore or deny insider's perspective on identity that the existence of Aboriginal title in the is intrinsically superior to the analyses remainder of the province, hence the of even the most sensitive observer. lack of further treaties. The result has The best autobiographies offer a been that "Indians" and Métis have window into an area of ethnicity that shared the same "non-status" desig­ is imperfectly understood - this being nation for most of the twentieth the existential, psychological di­ century. It is the migration to British mensions of living as a person of a Columbia of Métis people from particular ethnic identity. Alberta, Saskatchewan, and elsewhere Métis Lives, Past and Present that has introduced Aboriginal status a volume of oral reminiscences. The distinctions into BC Native popu­ anthology documents a variety of lations. The first volume to be con­ experiences that paint a vivid portrait sidered here, What It Is to Be a Métis: of Métis life in the first half of the The Stories and Recollections of the twentieth century. Elders of the Prince George Métis To complete this undertaking, the Society, is both a function and a result Prince George Métis Elders Society of these developments. collaborated with the Native Studies The Prince George Métis com­ Department of the University of munity, as characterized in this Northern British Columbia, which is volume, is not an indigenous Métis based in Prince George. Under the community (i.e., a community that has supervision of staff members from the evolved locally from generations of Department of Anthropology, students intermarriage between Europeans and enrolled in the Native Studies Program the BC Native groups local to the compiled questions, interviewed area); rather, it is a reformulated com­ elders, and transcribed and edited the munity whose members migrated to completed interviews. In order to en­ British Columbia from Métis com­ sure that the project remained under munities elsewhere in western Canada. the control of the Métis elders, ethical It has been in the process of "be­ guidelines governing researchers' coming" since 1945 and is part and conduct, the construction of research parcel of a larger out-migration of instruments, and the editing and people from the Prairie provinces that disseminating of the completed work took place after the Second World were developed by anthropology staff War. During this period, the mech­ members in collaboration with the anization of agriculture dispensed elders. The research methodology has with the need for large numbers of been detailed in Appendix 1 of this seasonal agricultural workers, many of book and provides a useful reference whom were First Nations and Métis. for those considering similar col­ The forestry, fishing, and mining laborative projects. industries of British Columbia were Unfortunately, projects of this attractive to people displaced in a nature can become unnecessarily western agricultural economy battered political, and the work of the scholars by the Depression. involved in this compilation is no Twenty of the Métis elders inter­ exception. Project coordinator Mike viewed for this volume come from Evans states in boldface type: "We three areas: northwestern Saskatchewan, have purposefully avoided inter­ north-central Alberta, and north­ pretations and analysis of the stories eastern Alberta. The remaining three included, but rather have left the interviews are with former residents Elders' stories to speak for themselves" of The Pas, Manitoba. These elders (259). He then offers a further ex­ and their descendants have been in the planation: Prince George area for approximately three generations. Now that its most re­ The reasons for this are several, cent generation has reached adulthood, but the fundamental method­ the community has chosen to com­ ological point is that sometimes memorate its longevity by compiling the best way to ensure that 88 BC STUDIES

Aboriginal community members history" when they interview subjects are represented fairly is for and transcribe the narratives. In fact, researchers to stay silent, and this recorded material does not become let people speak for themselves. "history" until it is placed within a Euro-Canadian scholars have broader historical context through an­ had a great deal to say about notation or analysis. This could easily Métis history and culture, so have been accomplished in What It Is we thought that we would let to Be a Métis through the preparation Métis themselves have a turn ... of a separate essay discussing Métis This is not to suggest that the migration in general and the move­ scholarship of anthropologists ment of Prairie Métis to British is somehow bad, but simply Columbia in particular. The intent of that there needs to be a place in such an article would not be to "slight" Métis Studies for Métis voices or overshadow the value of the oral as well. (259) accounts but, rather, to provide con­ text in order to enhance the interest It is a legitimate concern that the and value of the oral accounts. presence of scholarly content in a volume of this nature might somehow The inclusion of maps identifying overshadow, or even undermine the the communities in the Prince George importance of, oral testimony. But area and some of the Métis com­ these issues can be competently re­ munities in northern Alberta and solved through sensitive editing and Saskatchewan would have been another design. The oral accounts in this volume welcome addition. The quality of the are intrinsically compelling, have been bibliography included at the end of carefully edited, and will make a val­ the volume is also disappointing. If a uable addition to a growing collection "Selected Bibliography on Métis of published oral accounts by Métis History and Culture" is to be in­ people dealing with social and eco­ cluded, then the compiler of such a nomic life in the twentieth century. list must be truly selective. There are They are in no danger of being up­ hundreds of publications devoted to staged by scholarly additions. Métis history and culture. Although a few of the entries in this bibli­ Although a brief (one-and-a-half ography are indispensable to an un­ page) introductory essay has been in­ derstanding of the Métis, other books cluded in the volume, the two para­ and articles are dated and/or have graphs devoted to Métis history are little relationship to the region under far too general in scope to be of any study or to the social and economic real use to the reader. One of the re­ themes that emerge from the in­ sponsibilities of an editor (particularly terviews. one working for a scholarly press) is Despite these shortcomings, the re­ to place oral accounts like these within search team and UNBC Press should be a broader social, political, and eco­ commended for detailing the collab­ nomic context so that their content orative research methodology developed cannot be dismissed. The phrase "oral for this project as well as for their history" is one of the most abused sensitive gathering and editing of the terms in the scholarly lexicon. It is interviews. Readers who are interested unfortunate that so many researchers in the formation, dissolution, and re­ assume that they are practising "oral formulation of Métis communities in Métis Lives, Past and Present 89

western Canada will welcome this poetic tribute to the two most im­ compilation. portant women in his life - his mother The recent resurgence in Métis Dorothy Scofield and his adopted aunt consciousness has been even more Georgina Houle Young. pronounced among younger members Thunder through My Veins is a in the community, who have often had powerful and sometimes difficult read. to struggle against geographical dis­ If nothing else, it illuminates the location and family dysfunction in importance of nurturing (or the lack order to reclaim their indigenous thereof) in the development of a child's identities. Unlike the Métis elders of concept of self. It also illustrates the Prince George, who grew up with a crucial role that Métis women have strong sense of Métis cultural awareness, played in sustaining Métis culture and many younger Métis have found identity in the midst of the main­ themselves in a cultural vacuum, stream world. The two Métis women where knowledge of their mixed at the centre of Scofield's life, his heritage is either denied or denigrated mother Dorothy and his adopted aunt by those around them. Their struggle Georgina, are a study in contrasts. to fully realize themselves as Métis is Dorothy Scofield loves her son but is a predicament that has not always often incapable of providing the care been viewed sympathetically by their he needs as she struggles with the First Nations cousins or by non- multiple demons of chronic illness, Natives in mainstream society. For­ domestic abuse, and drug and alcohol tunately, the Métis community has addiction. As a result Gregory's young been blessed with several gifted life is filled with turmoil. Often storytellers who have used their abandoned to the care of others, and talents to interpret the multifaceted exposed to the threat of physical and dimensions of modern Métis identity sexual violence, Gregory Scofield is a to a wider audience. lost soul, seemingly destined to be­ Gregory Scofield, a poet, musician, come yet another social casualty. and community activist, is one of the Fortunately, however, Georgina "new wave" of Métis writers to share Houle Young comes into Gregory's his experiences in print. Raised in life. When Gregory Scofield meets Maple Ridge, Scofield now lives and Georgina for the first time, in Maple works in Vancouver. He has published Ridge, he is a confused and solitary several volumes of poetry; his first little boy looking for a friend in the volume, The Gathering: Stones for the noisy apartment building where he Medicine Wheel (1993), won the Dorothy and his mother live. "Géorgie," as her Livesay Poetry Prize. His fourth friends call her, is an elderly Métis volume of poetry, / Know Two Métis woman from Wabasca, Alberta, who Women: The Lives of Dorothy Scofield welcomes Gregory into her home and and Georgina Houle Young, appeared in into her heart. She not only sees the the same year as did his autobiography, loneliness in Gregory, but also the Thunder through My Veins: Memories heritage that they both share - Awp- of a Métis Childhood. It is appropriate, pee-tow-koosan (Métis). As their and fortuitous, that these books were friendship grows, she becomes Gregory's released at the same time, since Ne-ma-sis (little mother; aunty), Scofield's autobiography provides the telling him stories, teaching him the context needed to truly appreciate his Crée language and the use of medicinal CO BC STUDIES

plants, and sharing with him the entwined in the very fabric of spiritual beliefs and worldview that our lives and traditions. The have sustained her throughout her life. old people love to tease and Despite the oasis of security that laugh, poking fun at one Géorgie provides, Gregory's life is far another in a serious world. (67) from easy. Caught up in day-to-day struggles to deal with an abusive step­ I Know Two Métis Women: The Lives father and a mother in failing health, of Dorothy Scofieldand Georgina Houle his adolescent life is further com­ Young is Gregory Scofield's celebration plicated by the realization that he is of the silver lining that exists in every homosexual. It is only when he dark cloud. Using the honky-tonk reaches adulthood that he is able to ballads of Jimmie Rodgers, Kitty recognize the legacy that Georgina Wells, Wilf Carter, Hank Williams, has passed on to him - the ability to and a host of other country artists as give unconditional love and for­ his "soundtrack," Scofield recalls the giveness in spite of hard times and poignant, and often humorous, events bitterness, and the realization that in the lives of his mother and aunt. there is humour in even the grimmest Through the use of dialect and imagery, of situations. these poems bring to us the sights, sounds, and smells of the places they Thinking back to Aunty's visited and the rooms in which they stories, to many of my child­ lived, allow us to share the possessions hood experiences with her, I they treasured, and introduce us to the realize now how much humour friends and lovers with whom they I had grown up with, how sang and fought and drank. Aunty had always used jokes Scofield is a talented poet whose and teasing to lessen the work distills and imparts the essence hardships of life. For Native of personalities and places, and does people, humour has always so with love and respect. The task of been an important part of our communicating "what it is to be a culture, a way to see our own Métis" is in very good hands indeed. idiosyncrasies and the fool­ We have much to learn from Scofield, ishness of others. It is inherent as we do from the elders of Prince in our stories and legends, George.