Fort Simpson (Aug 04/03) - Hundreds of people gathered in Fort Simpson on July 30 to pay their respects to a champion of the Metis, Bill Laferte.

As a fitting tribute near the end of the funeral service, Lee Mandeville fiddled the Red River Jig. Laferte's military beret rested atop his hand-crafted coffin, which was draped in the Canadian flag and his Metis sash.

After a courageous battle with cancer, Laferte died peacefully at home on July 26. He was 72.

Christina Holman, his widow, said Laferte believed that everyone should know their family history. Awareness and pride in their heritage makes people strong and gives them a foundation from which to accomplish their goals, she said of Laferte's philosophy.

"He was the greatest promoter of Metis history," Holman said. "He always sat down with the old people to get information from them."

North Douglas said he remembers talking to Laferte in the lobby of the Yellowknife Inn as a little boy. Many years later, when Douglas' father, Robert, passed away, Laferte and Holman visited and consoled him in his time of mourning, he said.

"They've been really great," he said. "(Bill) was a real general. A real warrior. We lost a lot of valuable information when we lost this guy. He walked away with the encyclopedia."

John Tees, who travelled from Yellowknife to attend the funeral, concurred.

"Bill was a good Metis historian and a good man," said Tees. "He knew so many of the people through the research he did."

Laferte, who leaves behind 13 children, was MLA for the Mackenzie-Liard constituency from 1975-79. Tom Butters was a fellow MLA and the two became good friends.

"He was a figure that was larger than life -- a Northern Metis who was extremely proud of his dual heritage," said Butters. "He was a philosopher, too... he spoke a lot so there was a lot of chaff in with the wheat. But the gold was there and it was well worth contemplating and keeping for yourself."

Like Butters, George Tuccaro met Laferte through the Legislative Assembly.

"Bill has always been at the forefront in Metis issues... a lot of us think the world of Bill and his family," said Tuccaro, a former CBC reporter who added he could always rely on Laferte for historical perspective.

"He had a lot of knowledge of the Mackenzie River and communities down the Mackenzie River, who lived there and who the Metis were that helped to open up the country," Tuccaro said, adding that Laferte chronicled his perspective in his award-winning newspaper column, the Metis Rambler.

"It was his way of passing on information to other people," said Tuccaro.

Laferte served seven years in the military, rising to the rank of sergeant with the army corps of engineers. He was assigned to duty in the Suez Canal crisis and the Korean War in the 1950s.

"He served (his country) with pride and he served with distinction," Butters added. "He was also proud to be Canadian."

Determined to attain benefits for Metis veterans and their families, Laferte became a Northern representative for the National Metis Veterans Association in 2002. He also sat on the NWT Senior Society's board.

With Laferte's death, Minnie Letcher lost not only a friend but a dance partner who was very fond of fiddle music.

"He taught me some steps," Letcher said. "I really enjoyed doing the old-time dances with him."