History of family is chronicled

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A book on the history of the Callihoo family that was completed a short time ago was launched on Jan. 23 at the Musee Heritage Museum in St. Albert. The celebration of this new book attracted a full house with a number of the Callihoo family in attendance.

The book titled The Sun Traveller was written by Elizabeth Macpherson. It chronicles the history of the Callihoo family from the early 1800s to the present. Macpherson first became interested in the Callihoo family when she worked at the museum.

"When I first came here I noticed that a lot of the artifacts were donated by people named Callihoo, and I wanted to find out who they were," said Macpherson. "I guess I wanted to put a human face on the artifacts' donators." So with a research grant from the Alberta Museums Association she traveled to Ottawa and Winnipeg for more information on the Callihoo family. Macpherson also used the Alberta archives, the Oblate Fathers' archives, as well as old newspaper articles as other sources for the book.

"There are hundreds of Callihoo families in Alberta and there are many different ways to spell the name Callihoo. As such, they may be all be related. Macpherson suggests checking archives and baptismal certificates to know where the individual fits on the Callihoo family tree.

"From the fur trade to the signing of a treaty, illustrations, photographs, recollections from the family, and paintings were also used to chronicle the background of the Callihoos," said Macpherson. Initially she thought that all Callihoos were Metis, but as she continued to research the family she found that they were signatories of Treaty 6, signed in 1878.

Macpherson also discovered that the Callihoos were descendants of Louis Callihoo, also known as Kara Komptee, a Mohawk born in 1782 in Sault St. Louis, in what is now called Kahnawake, Que. He first came to Alberta as an employee with the Northwest Company. He lived in the Smokey River Valley area and the Lesser Slave Lake area.

The name of the book is taken from an event that involved Louis. Macpherson called the book Sun Traveller because "of a name which was given to him by a Jesuit priest. The priest wrote of a meeting with Louis and his family "in a rather flowery style. He called Louis le voyageur de soleil which I have translated as Sun Traveler," said Macpherson. The book focuses mainly on Louis and his son Michel. Michel Callihoo worked for the Hudson's Bay Co. in Edmonton for nearly 30 years. It was Michel who persuaded a group of Callihoos to sign the treaty that gave them treaty status. On joining the treaty the Callihoos were given land to use as a reserve, which was located west of St. Albert by what is now known as the Villineauve/Callihoo area.

"They were given farm equipment and most of them had their own gardens, but they were not allowed to sell Band livestock, so they could not continue to buy new farm equipment," said Macpherson. Eventually some members of the Band, known as the Michel Band, gave up their status and moved away. Michel Callihoo died in 1911. In 1958 the rest of the Callihoos gave up the reserve, said Macpherson.

"The Michel Band has been re-established and we are working on getting federal recognition," said Gilbert Anderson, chief of the Michel Band. Anderson is the great grandson of Michel Callihoo.

"I'm really glad that there is a book out there about our family. It helps us know where we originated from," said Anderson. "Elizabeth has done a wonderful job on the book. I know of no inaccuracies whatsoever. If she's speculating, she writes that down. ... Some of us have visited where he was from and that was the Kahnawake reserve in Quebec. Let me put it this way, they are aware of us and we are aware of them, " said Anderson.

There will be a permanent Callihoo exhibit at the museum because of the family's involvement in the fur trade and the community's interest in Aboriginal life of the past. A small traveling exhibit called un Traveler will be on loan to various schools and libraries throughout the province. Macpherson said this exhibit will give the public a chance to view the history of the Callihoo family and other Metis families from the St. Albert region.