St. Albert residents can hang out with the spirits of Métis history this week as the city’s museum hosts a special exhibit for Métis Week.
Métis Week runs from Nov. 10 to 16 this year in Alberta. The annual event is a celebration of Métis history and culture that happens in around Nov. 16, which was the date when renowned Métis leader Louis Riel was executed in 1885 for his role in the 1885 North-West Resistance.
St. Albert city council and the St. Albert–Sturgeon Métis Local 1904 will officially proclaim Métis Week in a flag-raising ceremony at St. Albert Place on Nov. 15 at 10 a.m., said Phyllis Kelly, community engagement lead for the local.
Raising the flag this year will be Chester Perrault and other members of the Perrault family — a Métis clan whose members have lived in St. Albert since around 1868, which was when Aldolphe Perrault came to town along with Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin.
“Their home used to be on the river lot where [St. Albert Place] now stands,” Kelly said.
Kelly invited everyone to come down to the flag raising for speeches, Métis fiddling and jigging, and a performance of the Métis anthem (“Proud to be Métis”) by students from Sir Alexander Mackenzie Elementary. Guests can then head to the Local 1904 office at 15 Rowland Cres. for free Three Sisters soup and bannock.
Kelly said Métis Week was an excellent opportunity for people to learn more about the Métis and their place in St. Albert’s history.
“We like to say we’re the children of the fur trade.”
Keeoukaywin at Musée
Guests can also take part in Métis Week by checking out a new exhibit/event at the Musée Héritage Museum that opens Nov. 12. Entitled “Keeoukaywin” (Michif for “The Visiting Way”), the exhibit showcases Métis-related artifacts from the museum’s archives, as well as photos of St. Albert-area Métis families and the music of renowned Métis fiddler Gilbert Anderson.
Museum staff plan to bring out a different artifact each day for guests to learn about, said museum educational programmer Alexandra Hendriks. These include a beautiful wooden fiddle from the late 1800s once owned by St. Pierre Calliou/Callihoo, a hollowed-out animal horn once owned by Agnes Smith, and a Hudson’s Bay trunk owned by George Hodgson, a Métis freighter and carpenter who helped build Father Albert Lacombe’s first church.
Hendriks said her favourite pieces from this exhibit were some strands of dyed horsehair that belonged to longtime St. Albert Métis resident Mary Callihoo (née Cunningham).
“She would harvest horsehair in a good way and she would dye them … and she would embroider moccasins and things with it,” she said.
“It’s a very interesting process and as you can imagine a very delicate process.”
Hendriks said this exhibit aims to give people an unobstructed look at these artifacts instead of putting them behind glass. This aligns with The Visiting Way, which is the Métis concept that all objects have spirit.
“The object’s spirit wants to be around people and good energy,” she said, and wants to be visited — not cut off from the public behind glass or in a vault, as per the colonial approach to artifacts.
Hendriks said this exhibit, which she hoped to make an annual event, was a chance to build community and celebrate Métis culture.
The Art Gallery of St. Albert will also be promoting Métis artists during Métis Week.
Keeoukaywin runs from 2–4 p.m. Nov. 12 to 16 at the museum. Call 780-459-1528 for details.
