Gabriel Dumont Institute celebrates 25 years

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The Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI), the only fully accredited Metis post-secondary, adult basic upgrading and skills training institution in Canada, turned 25 in early December. The institution marked the occasion with a two-day celebration held in Saskatoon on Dec. 2 and 3.

Day one of the celebration was given over to a conference headed by a distinguished panel of legal and constitutional experts and dealing with the Supreme Court's Powley decision. That decision, brought down in 2003, marked the first time the Supreme Court ruled that Section 35 of the Constitution protects the Aboriginal right of Metis people to hunt for food, setting an important precedent for future Metis harvesting cases throughout Canada.

In the evening, Don Freed's CD The Valley of Green and Blue was released. The album features a collection of songs rich with history, passion and the essence of what it means to be a proud Metis.

Day two's events opened with an annual general meeting during which the Metis community was invited to help redefine GDI's governance structure. A Metis cultural conference was also held, along with a 25th anniversary gala.

The cultural conference consisted of a series of workshops, focusing on Metis culture, history and education. Cathy Littlejohn, co-author of The History of the Metis of Willow Bunch, emceed a veterans' workshop. Littlejohn introduced attending veterans and explained that, while some individual Metis and other Aboriginal groups have received benefits, most Metis veterans still haven't received the benefits they were entitled to after the war.

At the Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program (SUNTEP) workshop, co-ordinators Murray Hamilton, Joanne Pelletier and Michael Relland discussed the changing needs of the program, aimed at producing Metis and non-status teachers. Since 1980, more than 500 students have graduated from the program with a bachelor of education degree. Despite its success, the co-ordinators said SUNTEP needs more control over course content at the Prince Albert, Saskatoon, and Regina institutions where the program is offered.

During the Michif language workshop, Norman Fleury and Bruce Flamont delighted listeners with a history and examples of the language. Michif, said Fleury, is recognized as the official language of the Metis. Nouns are French, verbs are Cree, and English appears for words like "television" and "beer parlour" which have no Michif equivalent.

The evening gala drew together hundreds to feast and to pay tribute to Metis culture through music and humour.

John and Vicki Arcand drew jiggers onto the dance floor with traditional Metis music. Maureen "Ernestine" Belanger emceed the gala, shadowed by Duane "Alphonse" Favel.

Andrea Menard was also among the performers, backed by Beauval's Just the Boys. She also launched her latest CD Simple Steps, during the anniversary celebrations.

The Order of Gabriel Dumont Awards were also handed out during the gala, recognizing individuals who have served Canada's Metis community with distinction.

Mary St. Pierre was awarded an Order of Gabriel Dumont at th gold medal level while three other gold medals were awarded posthumously to Louis Morin, Rod Bishop and Harry Daniels. Silver medals were awarded to Ron Rivard and Alex Maurice.

Ninety-five-year-young Mary St. Pierre is passionate about sharing her Metis culture and Michif language. St. Pierre has lived a traditional life-digging Seneca root, trapping and hunting. She farmed long hours with her husband, and her seamstress skills supplemented the family's income. A skilled midwife, St. Pierre also has the distinction of having delivered more than 50 babies. In 2003, St. Pierre received the President's Recognition Medal for her contributions to the Metis people.

Metis Elder, senator and community activist Louis Morin was a trapper, a hunter and the father of 22. He was fluent in Michif, Cree and Dene. He founded the Northern Fur Conservation TrappersAssociation where he served as president, and was also president of the Saskatchewan Trappers Association. Morin's desire for Aboriginal people to work together shone when he, along with 33 other plaintiffs from 19 northern Saskatchewan communities, launched a court action in 1994. The plaintiffs argued that the region's Metis were a distinct Aboriginal people, descended from the Metis who lived on the land and harvested the region's resources prior to Confederation.

Among the words praising Rod Bishop were these: bold, confident, charitable, dedicated, energetic, fearless, intense and stubborn. Bishop often clashed with government officials and his own people while marshalling the Metis of Green Lake into a political force, re-establishing the Green Lake Metis Society and establishing strategic alliances.

He ran unsuccessfully against Jim Sinclair for leadership of the Saskatchewan Metis organization but Sinclair later remarked, "[W]ithout people like Bishop there would never have been the Metis movement that is here today, because he spoke up, he believed in what he said, and he died a poor man with nothing ... His dedication to the rights of Metis is unquestionable."

Harry Daniels, activist, linguist, political leader, writer and actor was described as charismatic, passionate and utterly dedicated to advancing the rights of Canada's Aboriginal peoples. For 40 years, he worked to improve his fellows' lot via national and international venues. Daniels recognized many injustices, including the marginalization of women. As founder and president of the Native Council of Canada, he positioned the Metis in the repatriated Constitution.

Ron Rivard has worked to build the Metis for 25 years, through provincial, national and international arenas. He served for 10 years as the first executive director of the Metis National Council. He met with John Paul II to gain the Pope's support for constitutional issues. He sat on numerous boards to advance Aboriginal interests. Rn Rivard & Associates focuses on enhancing economic opportunities for Metis and First Nations communities.

Community activist, political leader and businessman Alex Maurice volunteered for many causes in northern Saskatchewan, sat on several boards and held a number of political offices. From President of the Metis Nation, Local #37 to Associate Minister of Northern Affairs for the Metis Nation, Maurice strives to create strong economic development agreements for northwestern Saskatchewan.