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From Otipemisiwak - Voice of the Métis Nation in Alberta
Premiere Edition
When we reflect on the long history of the Metis Nation of Alberta, more than 75 years of history, we would be negligent to not consider what was life was like back then, what moved the founding fathers of this nation to fight for change. What could they have imagined to eventually result, in the following decades, from the energy that drew them together on that one cold December night at Frog Lake?
Who can answer those questions, except by interpreting the ideas and frustrations documented forever in a letter written by Joe Dion in September of 1940 and now stored in the Alberta Provincial Archives, words that describe anxieties and stressors among the disenfranchised Métis struggling to build their own community?
Dion wrote, “I beg to say that my story only dates back from May 24, 1930 for it was on this day that I attended my first “Half breed” meeting. Mr. Delorme and a number of others who had been living at Fishing Lake near Frog Lake for many years had called a meeting for the purpose of organizing a Half-breed settlement at Fishing Lake. Having always taken a lively interest in the welfare of the Half-breeds, whose ranks I had joined…and believing that that here at last was my chance to serve these people in their own settlement, where discrimination would not exist, I readily accepted the invitation and met with them at Fishing Lake”.
Dion goes on to describe that, “In the course of this speech making I asked Mr. Cardinal, with whom I happened to be sitting, if at any time somebody had taken these talks on paper, or had an official of any kind ever attended these meetings. These are the very words Mr. Cardinal spoke, “no, this is as far as we’ve ever gone. We make a lot of speeches, then go back to our homes believing that we had accomplished something”.
Dion realized the extent of the deplorable living conditions endured by the people and when asked about his ideas on the situation, he writes, “I may have said things which were not very complimentary to the occasion. The upshot of this flare of mine was that I was delegated then and there to go and present the Half breed case to the authorities in Edmonton.”
Indeed, such coincidence has become a pivotal moment in the history of Metis in Alberta, for it was there among that gathering of disowned men that the seeds of an organization were sown.
The sentiments and concerns expressed at that meeting and the subsequent actions taken led to the creation, in 1932, of the, Metis Association of Alberta, the prototype of our current organization. The first convention of its kind assembled on December 28 in the basement of the Roman Catholic Church at St Albert and led to the election of our first officers.
Officially named “L’Association des Metis d’ Alberta et les Territoires du Nord-Ouest, the first elected representatives of that fledgling organization were: Joe Dion, President; M.F. Morris, 1st Vice President; Felix Callihoo, 2nd Vice President; and J.P. Brady, Secretary/ Treasurer.
Among the first actions taken by that group in securing appropriate recognition to our people was the abolishment of the term “half-breed” which was replaced by the more appropriately descriptive term, “Metis”.
The building blocks upon which our organization sits were laid at that first meeting: The reinstatement of the Metis race; to properly educate the Metis children and to take care of the sick. Three simple, straightforward principles that were relevant to the social concerns and living circumstances of the day; and still, principles that have not eroded over the passage of 75 years and remain as significant today as they did that cold December night.
We can collectively celebrate the progress made by the Metis Nation of Alberta as a provincial organization. We have made enormous strides in our capacity to take care of our children and youth, our elders, and our communities. The development and delivery of programs in education and training, employment assistance, health and social services, housing and economic development are first-rate examples of how we can, together as one Nation, take care of our people.
We have made evolutionary advances in provincial, national and international politics since 1928, with respect to securing due recognition of Metis as a distinct society. Section 35 of the Constitution, 1982, secures the protection of our inherent Aboriginal rights. Canada’s highest court has recently affirmed, through the Powley decision, that we are a distinct Aboriginal people with existing Metis rights protected by the Constitution.
Joe Dion and the first elected officials to represent the Metis could not have imagined the productive length and breadth of their initial good intentions. We have collectively taken their ideas and built ourselves, one stone at a time, one stick upon another, a nation of people bound by a common energy and passion, all in the interest of the recognition, protection and preservation of the Métis in Alberta.
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Telephone (780)455-2200 Toll-Free Alberta (800)252-7553 Fax
(780)452-8946
100-11738 Kingsway Ave, Edmonton, AB T5G 0X5
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