Métis Trail officially opens
CONTRIBUTION TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA RECOGNIZED
A Red River cart pulled by a large chestnut horse moved down Métis Trail near Garry Station followed by a diverse procession of people led forward by a fiddler who played a merry jig. Bright red sashes adorned waists and a giant blue banner emblazoned with a white infinity symbol caught the wind and unfurled itself over the crowd, a crowd who came to remember and celebrate the history of the Métis people in southern Alberta.
Friday’s procession and ribbon-cutting marked the official grand opening of Métis Trail, and, it was hoped, a new chapter for all of southern Alberta’s peoples, said Blackfoot Elder Roland Cotton.
“As a child I met them (the Métis) across the river southwest of here,” Cotton remembered. “We heard fiddle music, me and my grandpa, as we were doing our chores outside. We heard this fiddle and we went to discover where it was coming from, and it was across the river.
“We were hiding behind a bush and a girl found us. They invited us across so we walked across the river and they sat us down... Man, they were just good-hearted people. They served us home-made sausage and jerky. We were babied, and we wanted to hear the music again. So they started and they were jigging. We went there four days in a row, and then we had to go to town for a few of my grandpa’s other chores, and a few days later we came back. My grandpa said, ‘Let’s go visit our new friends;’ so we walked down close to the river and we looked across and they were gone.”
“Boy, I was disappointed,” he stated. “There was no trace of them ... At that time I never welcomed them, but now today, some 60 years later, I want officially welcome the Métis (to Blackfoot territory) ... I feel it is time we (all the peoples of southern Alberta) welcome each other, and embrace each other.
There is no time to say we are going back home— we are here together until whenever.”
Cotton also said words of blessing for the new roadway, and spoke of the innate purpose of roadways and trails in general.
“All new things become old after,” said Cotton. “We hope that this trail will serve us in its rightful way, and our children can meet one another. Before there was never a trail for anyone, but today there is a trail for all of us so that we can greet and be able to have a brotherly love; so there will be no more racial discrimination.”
It was in 2008 council first voted to name a future major roadway to acknowledge the importance of the Métis people to Lethbridge’s history. Mayor Chris Spearman said he was proud to see that past directive of council finally carried out in his time as mayor.
“What this means for the City of Lethbridge is this is part of our reconciliation efforts,” said Spearman. “We acknowledge not only the Blackfoot people, but the people of Métis heritage who
contributed to our community. Those ancestors really are part of our history, and we shouldn’t forget them. Métis Trail will always be a reminder of the contribution of the Métis people to this area.”
Joy and celebration were the two most powerful feelings those of Métis heritage in the city feel as Métis Trail finally becomes a reality in West Lethbridge, said Métis Local 2003 Lethbridge president Alice Bissonette. Just a few years after Canada finally recognized the Métis people as their own nation, it is fitting a project she and others advocated so strongly for 11 years ago has finally arrived, Bissonette said.
“The reason to celebrate it is this has been a long time coming,” she stated, “and this is really an historic event to have a (major) road named after your people is something we should celebrate. And we are willing to celebrate it and we’re willing to share it with the Lethbridge community. It’s a great step forward.”
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