Michif Languages Project

The Michif Languages project was initiated in November of 1984 with the assembly of the Michif Languages Committee which consisted of three voluntary members: President W. Yvon Dumont, Professor Paul Chartrand, and Manitoba Métis Federation Language Coordinator, Audreen Hourie. The project’s work included researching, recording, and preserving the linguistic heritage of the Métis through a series of conferences, field research projects, and networking with interested individuals, institutions, and governments. The primary objective of the Committee was to address concerns surrounding the loss of culture and identity of the Métis due to declining language prevalence.On April 11 and 12, 1985, the Committee held a small conference in Manitoba, which included representatives from Belcourt, North Dakota (Turtle Mountain Reservation), to share the experiences of the Belcourt people with regard to the Michif language. The conference provided a forum to evaluate the feasibility of holding a larger conference to determine the initial stages of linguistic and cultural research and development.With assistance from the Secretary of State and the Province of Manitoba, the first official Michif Languages Conference was scheduled for June of 1985. In preparation for the conference, the Committee employed Louise Chippeway to research the languages used in Métis communities and secure participation from representatives across the prairies to attend the conference. Through her research, Louise procured 10 hours of interviews with community Elders in Manitoba that feature the language and oral history of the Métis (Michif Languages Project 1985). Louise was assisted by Abraham Ledoux who contributed recorded interviews from 1971 with Elders in Duck Bay, Manitoba (Abraham Ledoux 1971).From June 26 to 28, 1985, the first official Michif Languages Conference was held at the Brittany Inn in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Seventy delegates attended the conference from various Métis communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and North Dakota. The conference gathered language speakers together to discuss the various languages spoken by the Métis, with a focus on Michif, Michif French, and Saulteaux.Proceeding the conference, the committee sought funding from the Secretary of State to continue language documentation efforts. The committee was denied funding and was unable to continue with language documentation until 1987, when funding for the work was approved.After receiving funding, the Committee engaged the services of Guy Lavallée to conduct interviews in the community of St. Laurent. The interviews were referred to as phase one of the Michif Languages Project. The collection of 65 interviews documents the language, daily life, and cultural traditions of the Métis community.Lavallée used the completed project as part of his master’s thesis in cultural anthropology at the University of British Columbia. The thesis, titled “The Métis people of St. Laurent, Manitoba: an introductory ethnology,” was later published under the title The Métis of St. Laurent, Manitoba: Their Life and Stories, 1920-1988.