FIDDLERS' JOURNEY: THE PERSEVERANCE OF ONE METIS FAMILY'S IDENTITY A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Canadian Plains Studies University of Regina by Merelda Lynn Fiddler Regina, Saskatchewan December, 2009 Copyright 2009: M.L. 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Canada UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Merelda Lynn Fiddler, candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in Canadian Plains Studies, has presented a thesis titled, Fiddler's Journey: The Perseverance of One Metis Family's Identity, in an oral examination held on September 25, 2009. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: Dr. Brenda Macdougall, Department of Native Studies, University of Saskatchewan Co-Supervisor: Dr. David R. Miller, Department of Indigenous Studies, First Nations University of Canada Co-Supervisor: *Dr. Sherry Farrell-Racette, Department of Indian Education First Nations University of Canada Committee Member: Dr. Jesse Archibald-Barber, Department of English First Nations University of Canada Chair of Defense: Dr. Edward Doolittle, Department of Science, First Nations University of Canada *Participated via teleconference Abstract: For many Metis people in Canada, understanding and embracing their cultural identity can be challenging. The very existence of Metis people as a unique cultural group has been under attack for decades. The federal government's bureaucratic need to place all Aboriginal people into categorical boxes has resulted in fissures between different Aboriginal groups, and within communities and even families. However, what is missing in these artificial categories is history, the organic development of an individual's, family's, and cultural group's natural evolution overtime. Fiddlers' Journey : The Perseverance of One Metis Family's Identity is a case study which utilizes the biography of individuals within the Fiddler family, as well as the author's own autobiography to show how the family's Metis identity grew, developed and evolved, from the family's Metis origins to present. Using oral history, coupled with primary documents such as scrip and land records, this thesis examines the events that shaped Metis identity across the prairies, and how those events affected the direct Fiddler line of the author. Focusing on the story of this portion of the Fiddler family, this thesis documents the unique experience of the Fiddlers, and how their identity flourished when surrounded by other Metis people, and was at times hidden to protect the family when they lived in predominantly non- Aboriginal communities. Finally, it finds a significant conclusion, that each individual, throughout history, had their own unique way of celebrating, preserving, nurturing and sharing their Metis identity so future generations could continue to be proud to be Metis. ii Acknowledgements: First, I would like to thank the Canadian Plains Research Centre for all of its support, both moral and financial. Without scholarships from the department, the completion of this thesis would have been much more difficult. I would also like to thank the Saskatchewan Archives Board and the Library and Archives of Canada for the important work they do in preserving historical documents and family history records. Thanks also need to be shared with the Provincial Archives of Manitoba and the Hudson's Bay Company Archives and the people who work there for their dedication to preserving Canada's history, and particularly that of the Metis. Special thanks to Anne Lindsay for her help in locating materials I would never have known existed and for helping to uncover so many interesting historical documents pertaining to the Fiddler family. To my committee, Dr. David R. Miller, Dr. Sherry Farrell-Racette, and Dr. Jesse Archibald Barber, you are all truly inspired and without you all I would never have been able to complete this work - or have the courage to pursue it in the first place. To Dr. Miller, your support throughout this entire process can never adequately be repaid. Dr. Sherry Farrell- Racette, your excitement about my historical discoveries only served to encourage me to dig more deeply and look for more answers. Thank you to Eileen and Bruce Fink who housed me, drove me around and provided excellent meals during all of my research trips Winnipeg. To my family, both here and in the spirit world, thank you for sharing the stories, fighting the tough battles and always thinking of your family first. To all of my family who agreed to do interviews, my mom, dad, sister and aunts, thank you for trusting me with your words and helping to preserve our identity. And finally, thank you to my husband, who loves me as I am and supports all of my endeavours without question. iii Dedication: This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my grandparents, William and Avelina Fiddler and Louis and Lillian Taillifer. I did not have a chance to meet all of you, grow up with you, or hear your stories firsthand. However, I promise to preserve your stories, your memory, and the beauty of your ability to accept all people no matter what their cultural or economic backgrounds may be. I hope this work will be one small part in my journey to become more like you. Table of Contents: Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Dedication iii Chapter One Page 1 Chapter Two Page 31 Chapter Three Page 47 Chapter Four Page 61 Chapter Five - Page 85 Conclusion Page 131 Bibliography Page 142 Appedix A: Geneological Charts Page 151 Appendix B: Ethics Approval Page 156 1 Chapter One: The Metis: A Persistent Culture and Identity Non-Aboriginal people viewed us as being Indian. It was not like they said well they're half Indian so we'll half like them. They liked you or they didn't. If they didn't want you to chum around with their children, that was because you had Indian background in you. So, it was... you didn't go around professing who you were. But I think that there was a lot of denial amongst our people.1 Growing up in the Fiddler family in Meadow Lake, there was one truth: everyone in town knew the Fiddlers were 'part-Indian'. The Fiddlers were not quite white, though some were very pale-skinned, and yet they were not 'real' Indians. Many did not live on reserve, though an entire branch of the family lived on the nearby Waterhen First Nation. Those who lived in town were automatically then associated with the 'part-Indian' identity, definitely not the treaty Indians from nearby reserves. As my cousin Rose Richardson so clearly articulates, that 'part-Indian' identity often affected our relationships with non-Aboriginal people. Many preferred their children not have friendships with Indian people. Being 'part-Indian' also affected our relationship with status Indians, because they did not view us as 'real' Indians, since we were not from the reserve and did not carry status cards issued by the federal government. So, the name Fiddler, associated with living in town and originating from a mixed parentage (part-Indian and part non-Aboriginal) made you one of those 'part-Indian' Fiddlers. Whether it was the non-Aboriginal segment of town or the surrounding Treaty Indians living on nearby First Nations, you were something altogether different, and therefore, not a legitimate member of either group. Lines were drawn early in your life: those of us who were fair-skinned could sometimes be accepted by the non-Aboriginal population, and education could also gain you acceptance by this group, while those who were dark-skinned were often aligned with status Indians. As a family, or even as part of the larger Metis community within Meadow Lake, there were no easy answers or clear lines of absolute distinction.