Western University Scholarship@Western Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi) 4-2007 What it is to be a Met́ is Mike Evans Marcelle Gareau Lisa Krebs Leona Neilson Heidi Standeven Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/aprci Part of the Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons Citation of this paper: Evans, Mike; Gareau, Marcelle; Krebs, Lisa; Neilson, Leona; and Standeven, Heidi, "What it is to be a Met́ is" (2007). Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi). 258. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/aprci/258 Press What it is to be a Métis THE STORIES AND RECOLLECTIONS OF THE ELDERS OF THE PRINCE GEORGE METIS’ ELDERS SOCIETY EDITED, ORGANIZED AND COMPILED BY Mike Evans, Marcelle Gareau, Lisa Krebs, Leona Neilson and Heidi Standeven What it is to be a Métis The Stories and Recollections of the Elders of the Prince George Métis Elders Society Edited, Organized, and Complied by Mike Evans, Marcelle Gareau, Lisa Krebs, Leona Neilson, and Heidi Standeven UNBC Press Prince George, British Columbia Canada What it is to be a Métis: The Stories and Recollections of the Elders of the Prince George Métis Elders Society Copyright©1999 Prince George Métis Elders Society First Printing May 1999 Second Printing April 2007 Published by UNBC Press 3333 University Way Prince George BC V2N 4Z9 All rights reserved. Cover design by Carol Fairhurst. Printed in Canada by the Open Learning Agency Canadian cataloguing in publication data What it is to be a Métis Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 1-896315-08-9 1. Métis--British Columbia--Prince George--Biography. 2. Prince George Métis Elders Society--Biography. I. Evans, Mike, 1961- II. Prince George Métis Elders Society. E99.M47W52 1999 971.1'82 C99-910667-8 Table of Contents Preface to the second printing and web-based edition (April 2007)................................v Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................vi Métis Nation Anthem .............................................................................................................. vii Prince George Métis Elders Society...................................................................................... viii Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 1 Anna Bellrose .......................................................................................................................... 3 With Lisa Krebs and Heidi Standeven Antonia (Anne) Brommeland ................................................................................................. 15 With Sara Geirholm and Amanda Smashnuk Bill Regan and Georgina Collins............................................................................................ 29 With Joanne Burrows and Joanne Enders Dick Suvee ............................................................................................................................ 47 With Andrew Embree and Kristy Andersen Ed Letendre........................................................................................................................... 55 With Heidi Standeven and Craig Mitchell Emile and Betty Nome........................................................................................................... 71 With Sarah Ramage and Aaron Crowe John and Frances Cunningham............................................................................................. 73 With Stephanie Capyk and Taralee Alcock Flora Gervais......................................................................................................................... 87 With Kristy Andersen and Andrew Embree Florence Aubichon................................................................................................................. 93 With Craig Mitchell and Heidi Standeven Gertie Ragan ......................................................................................................................... 97 With Trina Chivilo and Tanya Kirkland Grandmother and Grandfather Morin (as told by Jean Morin) ............................................ 113 With Sara Geirholm and Amanda Smashnuk Jerline Doucette................................................................................................................... 117 With Aaron Crowe, Sarah Ramage, and Mike Evans Lawrence Gervais................................................................................................................127 Written by Lawrence Gervais With Kristy Andersen and Andrew Embree Lena Loveng........................................................................................................................ 131 With Stephanie Capyk and Heidi Standeven Margaret Jaffray .................................................................................................................. 135 With Joanne Burrows, Joanne Enders, and Mike Evans Marie Jobin ......................................................................................................................... 145 With Lisa Krebs and Leona Neilson Mary Gervais ....................................................................................................................... 159 With Joanne Enders and Joanne Burrows Mary Ghostkeeper............................................................................................................... 163 With Heidi Standeven and Craig Mitchell Leo and Roseanne Goulet................................................................................................... 179 With Heidi Standeven and Joanne Burrows Marie Adele, Leonard, and Cecile Paquette ........................................................................ 195 With Heidi Standeven and Kristy Andersen Rose Bortolon...................................................................................................................... 205 With Aaron Crowe, Sarah Ramage, and Mike Evans Sophia Suvee (as told by Ruth Suvee)............................................................................... 221 With Andrew Embree Eva Stafford ........................................................................................................................ 229 With Craig Campbell and Heidi Standeven Appendix One: Description of Research and Methodology ................................................. 245 By Mike Evans Appendix Two: Selected Bibliography on Métis History and Culture ................................... 263 By Mike Evans Photographs ....................................................................................................................... 267 Preface to the second printing and web-based edition (April 2007) Since the first printing of this volume a number of the Elders who participated have passed on. This is inevitable of course, and it comes to us all, but it is bitter-sweet to reprint the volume now. The passing of these Elders is great loss for their families and the wider community. We are grateful that they gave us some of their stories here, and that others have chosen to honour the Elders by continuing to read, teach, and learn from what is recorded in this book. These are short stories drawn from long and complicated lives, and they are good stories to learn with. Merci and meegweetch again to the Elders and others who worked on this volume - thanks especially to Margo Yacheshyn, Pamela Fry, Lynda Williams and Antonia Mills who helped to get things in place to get the web-based edition up, and the second printing done! Mike Evans, UBC Okanagan v Acknowledgments A great many people helped to make this volume a reality. First and foremost, the Elders themselves and especially the members of the board of the Prince George Métis Elders Society gave their time, knowledge, and patience to this project. Mrs. Margaret Jaffray, Mrs. Jerline Doucette, and Mrs. Florence Aubichon in particular guided and encouraged this work. Leona Neilson, coordinator of the Society, shaped the project from beginning to end, and was the central person in linking the Elders with the UNBC students and faculty. Ruth Suvee also helped to bring members of both communities together. In the most general sense, we would like to thank the Métis community of Prince George, who under the leadership of the Elders, have been consistently supportive of our collective efforts. The University of Northern British Columbia has likewise supported this project from the beginning. The Anthropology Program allowed the integration of two of its courses into the research process, and supported the project in too many ways to recount. Donna Hebert, program secretary, was vital for her help organizing and controlling what was, at times, a rather chaotic flow of students and equipment through her work day. Without the entire Anthropology Program’s willingness to accept applied anthropological work as a valuable end in and of itself, this project could not have taken place. Lee Morrison, the Director of the First Nations Centre of UNBC at the time the project began, gave both financial and intellectual support to our efforts. Jim McDonald, the Chair of the First Nations Studies and Anthropology Programs at UNBC, has been the crucial link between the University and our project; he has consistently and enthusiastically found the financial resources needed for the completion of the project. He has also shown a creative flexibility that allowed the connections