Metis retrace voyageur route

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Old Fort William Historic Park, built on the site of the world's largest fur trade post, is considered one of Canada's top 10 historic sites. The preserved fort depicts the bygone era of the fur trade.

This year a Great Rendezvous Festival will be held July 11 to 13 at the park to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the North West Company's occupation at the site.

As part of the fort's anniversary and also the 10th anniversary of the Metis Nation of Ontario (MNO), both the MNOand Old Fort William Historic Park are sponsoring a canoe expedition. Eleven Metis people ranging in ages from 18 to 37 are retracing a 2,000-kilometre canoe route from Lachine, Que. to Thunder Bay.

The group, travelling in a 26-foot birchbark canoe, left Lachine on May 19 and are expected in Thunder Bay on July 12.

The North West Company relocated its headquarters from Grand Portage, Minn. to New Fort on the Kaministiquia River at present-day Thunder Bay in 1803. In 1807, the site was renamed Fort William, after William McGillivray, the Company's chief superintendent.

Today the fort, which was closed in 1880, is once more a hub of activity on a 25-acre site, where 42 reconstructed buildings, an active artisan's area and a Native encampment sit.

"I think that this [canoe trip] is starting to pick up momentum, because people are starting to see that the paddlers are re-creating the voyage of their ancestors," said John Cameron, the canoe expedition's media relations spokesman. "The Metis Nation of Ontario's council are putting up great welcome ceremonies in each town for them along their route, and it is also creating an awareness of the fort, because people are starting to find out what the fur trade was all about."

President of the MNO, Tony Belcourt, said that by retracing the steps of the Metis this group would not only gain knowledge but also expose the Metis culture and traditions to a number of communities along the way. In cotton shirts, corduroy trousers, wool sashes, and moccasins, the modern-day voyageurs are striving to emulate not only the travel route but also the men who once travelled the same waters. Their canoe, which they will paddle for 10 to 12 hours a day, is a replica of the ones used 200 years ago. The terrain the paddlers are travelling over includes rapids, waterfalls, difficult portages and spectacular scenery, said Belcourt. There are 10 paddlers in the canoe at one time, but there is one extra person who gives one of the paddlers a break every now and then. A ground crew goes along, should any changes occur because of unexpected events along the way, such as weather and uncalculated delays in some of the portages.

"I think that it is fantastic that they are doing this trip. For the group this is an experience of a lifetime. This trip is unique; an experience like this is going to affect them immeasurably. I'm really happy for them and I'm very excited about what they are doing, as in promoting Metis history, culture and Metis pride," said Belcourt, who estimates there are 30,000 Metis in Ontario today.

First Nation Elders, Metis senators, mayors, members of parliament and town councillors come out to greet the paddlers in communities along the way. "The Elders come out to say prayers and an honour song for the group's safety," Belcourt added.

Upon arrival, the six men and five women will be employed as historical interpreters at the fort for the summer months.

The park is scheduling other activities this summer as described in the early 1800s' historical accounts, hearkening back to the North West Company's glory days and the fort's annual Great Rendezvous. That is when Native trappers met with voyageurs, Company officials, clerks and adventurers-up to 2,000 altogether-from across the vast fur-trading empire of the North West Company to do business and socialize.

The public is invited to enjoy daily fur trade era re-enactments, including drama presentations, demonstrations, historical interpretationsand tours during the celebrations. Hundreds of Boy Scout brigades are paddling from the West to the historic site, and a number of canoe brigades will be travelling up from the United States.

An "alumni rendezvous" is scheduled to take place with former staff, volunteers and outside workers who reconstructed the fort from 1971 to 1973.