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DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
A celebration is being held in Fort Providence later this month to recognize the life, achievements and legacy of an outstanding Metis woman.

A family photo taken in 1915 shows Catherine Beaulieu Bouvier Lamoureux, right, and members of her family. They include, back row, from left, Celine Lafferty Bouvier and her daughter Albina Bouvier; Marie Lafferty Bouvier, the wife of Jean-Baptiste Bouvier, seated; Veronique Lecou Bouvier; Rev. Father Leguen; and Jean-Baptiste Lamoureux. Front row, from left, Elizabeth Bouvier Norwegian holding her niece Corrine Bouvier. - photo courtesy of Albert Lafferty, original held by Susan Christie

Last July, Catherine Beaulieu Bouvier Lamoureux became the first woman in the NWT to receive the designation of National Historic Person from the federal government. The designation recognizes people who, through their words or actions, have made a unique and enduring contribution to the history of the country.

The Fort Providence Metis Council nominated her for the designation.

"We were quite thrilled, to say the least," said Albert Lafferty, the council's president.

Lafferty, who worked on compiling the history for the nomination, said Beaulieu Bouvier Lamoureux is deserving of the designation for a number of reasons.

"It's really about values in some respects," he said.

Lafferty said she embodied much of what is known about the earliest Mackenzie Valley Metis matriarchs. Her life story interwove self-sufficiency, work, tradition, faith and the emerging Northern Metis culture.

Her life also showed the changes that were taking place at the time, including the emergence of formal education, health care and Roman Catholic faith in the territory.

"She was a bridge between two worlds," he said.

Beaulieu Bouvier Lamoureux's life has been pieced together from oral stories and traditions passed down to her numerous descendants, of which Lafferty is one.

She was born in 1836 in the Salt River region near Fort Smith to Francis Beaulieu II, who is also designated a National Historic Person, and either Catherine St. Germain or her sister Louise St. Germain.

Baptized in 1845

She was baptized in 1845 into the Roman Catholic Church at Portage la Loche, Sask., and attended the Grey Nuns' school at St. Boniface, Red River, from 1848 to 1852.

In 1852, at the age of 16, she married Joseph Bouvier in Fort Resolution, where her father was in the charge of the Hudson's Bay Company outpost. Bouvier also worked for the company as a river guide in charge of boat brigades.

The couple had five children while moving between Fort Resolution, Fort Simpson, Big Island and Fort Providence.

She was a tough, independent and self-sufficient woman, said Bob Norwegian.

Norwegian remembers his grandmother, Elizabeth (Bouvier) Norwegian, telling him about her grandmother – Beaulieu Bouvier Lamoureux. The pieces of his great, great-grandmother's life were told not as stories, but rather as lessons about life and survival.

While living in Fort Providence, Beaulieu Bouvier Lamoureux gathered birch sap in the spring time across the snye to make birch syrup. The ice would already be broken up but she would head across on her snowshoes and not come back for two or three days, said Norwegian.

In one occasion, Elizabeth wanted to go with her grandmother and was told if she couldn't make it, to return home.

Norwegian said during the journey his great, great-grandmother didn't once turn back to see if Elizabeth was still following.

"She was tougher than hard tacks."

She is also remembered as a proficient traveller, often setting out by dog team from Fort Providence in the dead of winter to travel to Fort Rae to visit relatives. She cut trails during the trips and also carried mail between the communities.

Her travels led to her Dene name that loosely translated means Grandmother of the Winds, said Lafferty. She is also referred to as Kokum Baie, which in Michif – the Metis language – means One Who Gives and Sustains Life.

In 1861, the family moved to Fort Providence where they lived next to the newly established Oblate mission of Notre Dame de la Providence. Joseph Bouvier died in 1877 and Beaulieu Bouvier Lamoureux married Jean-Baptiste Lamoureux in 1879.

She died in 1918 at the age of 82.

"She's one of the remarkable ancestors for many in the North," said Lafferty.

Many of her descendents are expected to gather in Fort Providence from Aug. 17 to 19 to celebrate her life and the National Historic Person designation. The gathering will include a presentation on the matriarch's life story, stories from her descendents, a fiddle dance and a mass.

It will also be a celebration of Metis and First Nations cultures and a reminder to carry the history forward, said Lafferty.

"It's a good way to reflect upon the way of life in generations past," he said.

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