From York Factory to Medicine Hat, Don't Just Read Your History, Go There

In late August of 2013 my M tis husband, Nelson and I had signed up for the Manitoba Historical Fur Trade Tour leaving out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. We had been on a quest to learn more about where his ancestors came from and walk in the places where they had been. This is where we learned about the Hudson Bay Company side of the family and the Homeguard Cree who lived and worked alongside. At York Factory, from high in the cupola of the Depot Building, I saw below the little one-room schoolhouse where Catherine Sinclair, Harriet Ballenden, and Joseph Cook had attended over 200 years before. My husband is a product of that gene pool.

Since that trip to Manitoba, I have been on a mission to find all I could about these ancestors and learn how they fit into our Canadian history. I have found beautiful and also tragic stories. I have found stories that make me proud and stories that make me sad. I have found discrepancies in dates and important data that nag at me to get as close to the truth as possible. I have discovered differences in the French M tis and the Scottish M tis, and how these ancestors lived through some turbulent times in our history. I've found the stories of explorers and traders, buffalo hunters, peacemakers, and entrepreneurs, stories of love, commitment, and survival. In many cases I have retained the stories just as I found them.

People are becoming more and more interested in finding their roots. Indigenous and M tis especially have become more aware of their place in Canada's history, where they have made valuable contributions, or where they may have been pushed aside in favor of colonization.

I have found it exciting to feel the presence of those who have gone before us as I have researched their lives and walked where they once walked. I hope that my book will inspire people to get out and find the places where their story begins just as Nelson and I have done.