MLC - St. Laurent Manitoba Oral History - Adelaine Desjarlais

In 1984, the Manitoba Métis Federation formed the Michif Languages Committee to address concerns surrounding the loss of culture and identity of the Métis, due to declining language prevalence.

The work undertaken by the committee researched, recorded, and preserved the linguistic heritage of the Métis through a series of conferences, field research projects, and networking with interested individuals, institutions, and governments.

In 1987, the Michif Languages Committee engaged the services of Guy Lavallée to conduct interviews in the community of St. Laurent for phase 1 of the Michif Languages Project. The collection of interviews documents the language, daily life, and cultural traditions of the Métis community.

Lavallée completed phase 1 of the project as part of his Master’s thesis in cultural anthropology at the University of British Columbia. The thesis, titled “The Metis people of St. Laurent, Manitoba: an introductory ethnology,” was later published under the title The Metis of St. Laurent, Manitoba: Their Life and Stories, 1920-1988.