Metis patriarch honoured as person of national significance
Plaque unveiled in Fort Smith to commemorate Francois Beaulieu II
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, August 3, 2015
THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
An ancestor of many of the Metis in the Northwest Territories has been honoured as a person of national historic significance.
Fort Resolution's Garry Bailey, president of the Northwest Territory Metis Nation, stands next to a plaque unveiled in Fort Smith on July 28 to commemorate Metis patriarch Francois Beaulieu II, who lived from 1771 to 1872. Bailey is a direct descendant of Beaulieu. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo |
Francois Beaulieu II's special place in Canadian history was commemorated on July 28 with the unveiling of a plaque in Fort Smith. Beaulieu was one of the founding fathers of the Metis people in the NWT.
"He is a great-great-grandfather of most of the Metis within the Northwest Territory Metis Nation, including myself," said Fort Resolution's Garry Bailey, president of the Northwest Territory Metis Nation.
"Most would say he is the Louis Riel of the Metis north of 60," said Bailey. "It is because of him we call this place home and continue to take our rightful place in Canada as Metis people. With his passion and leadership, we've learned to survive and work hard in order to achieve great accomplishments. I am proud of the legacy that he has left, which gives us the strength to continue to live strong with love, unity and caring for our families and our communities."
Beaulieu lived for 101 years - from 1771 until his death in 1872 at Salt River.
In that time, he was many things, including a chief of the Yellowknife Band, an explorer with Alexander Mackenzie, a guide and interpreter for Sir John Franklin, a fur trader and later in life a devout Roman Catholic.
Bailey noted Beaulieu was known as the founder of the fur trade in the North, since he and his brothers set up most of the trading posts north and south of Great Slave Lake.
"He has played a significant part in developing the Northwest Territories, including bringing the Catholic religion to our communities," said the Metis Nation president.
Beaulieu was believed to have had as many as seven wives before becoming a Roman Catholic and reducing that number to one.
The plaque was unveiled by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
Another direct descendant of Francois Beaulieu II is Fort Resolution's Angus Beaulieu, who explained the Metis patriarch was his grandfather's grandfather.
Angus Beaulieu said it is a great honour to have his ancestor commemorated.
"He was a leader. He was a trader. He was an interpreter. He was everything," said Beaulieu, noting he heard many stories about his ancestor from his grandfather.
One of those stories involved Francois Beaulieu II's acceptance of the Roman Catholic faith, after which a large cross was erected at Salt River.
After his death, the bottom of the wooden cross rotted, and it fell. However, years afterward, it was said to have been swept up in a flood, only to come to rest on Francois Beaulieu's grave at Salt River.
That grave is no longer visible.
Another direct descendant, Louise Fraser of Fort Smith, was also pleased to see the plaque unveiled.
"It's a great honour because I knew it was in the works many years ago," she said, noting it is too bad that some descendants of Francois Beaulieu II did not live to see him designated as a person of national significance.
Being a direct descendant makes the event more personal for Fraser.
"It's family," she said.
A number of political dignitaries were on hand for the unveiling ceremony.
Dr. Colin Carrie, parliamentary secretary to Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who is also responsible for Parks Canada, was present.
Metis identity
Carrie noted Francois Beaulieu II - the son of a French-Cree coureur des bois and his Dene wife - helped to create a sense of Metis identity, laid the foundation for a new nation of Northern Metis, and shaped relations between Europeans and aboriginal peoples throughout the Mackenzie basin for more than half a century.
Born into the world of the independent coureurs des bois of the 18th century, he witnessed first-hand the rise and fall of the Hudson's Bay Company's fur trade monopoly in the 19th century and the emergence of Metis free traders.
"His legacy represents an enduring and significant historical presence in northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories," said Carrie.
Thebacha MLA and territorial cabinet minister Michael Miltenberger said Beaulieu started a legacy that is flourishing today.
"If he were here today, he would look around, I think, with some considerable pride at where the Metis nation has developed to today," said Miltenberger, pointing to a Metis land claim being negotiated in the South Slave and the fact that Premier Bob McLeod is Metis.
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada was created in 1919 and since then has designated more than 2,000 persons, places and events of national historic significance, and commemorated them with bronze plaques.
The permanent location of the plaque honouring Francois Beaulieu II has yet to be determined.
Mike Keizer, the representative of Wood Buffalo National Park on the Fort Smith Tourism Advisory Board, said an idea being considered is to place it somewhere along the boardwalk above the Slave River.
That would make it more visible to the public as opposed to placing it at Salt River.
