Prince George man shares history of Métis people

Ron Pelletier is interested in telling the story of the Métis who once inhabited Jasper National Park, and on March 21, he did just that.

A group of 18 people, including some of the Métis youth from the Fire Smart program and organizers Ken Walker and Greg Deagle from Parks Canada, stood in a circle around the soft-spoken man while he shared what he knew. 

Pelletier told the group he’s a descendent of the Moberly family, whose homestead still stands near Snaring campground, north of the Jasper townsite. A family of eight children and two adults lived in the small log cabin, until they were purged from the area.

At the beginning of the 20th century, development crept in toward the Athabasca Valley, where the homestead lies. In 1907 the federal government created the Jasper Forest Park of Canada, and the Métis living in the park were deemed squatters.

In two years, the acting park superintendent had bought out six Jasper-area Métis families who lived in constructed homesteads. The rest, about 100 who lived in teepees, were escorted out of the park by police. 

“I think that’s very sad,” Pelletier said, adding he’d like the story to be told in as positive a way as possible. “Right, wrong, whatever – it’s not up to us to judge.”

Pelletier, a carpenter from Prince George, spends much of his spare time researching the history of his ancestors, and aims to write and publish a book on the subject.

“For the most part, everybody is healthy today and we do have a rich history to tell,” he said. “We just have to tell it.”

He expressed his envy for the way Métis would have lived more than a century ago, hunting, fishing, trapping and raising livestock. “I would have loved to live like that, don’t have to worry about the tax man, gas prices,” he said. “Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong time.”

Another goal for Pelletier is to ensure the story is told correctly by others. He’s been working with Parks Canada to revise informative signs at the site to ensure accuracy. “One talks about ragtime music playing, and there’s been disagreements with that,” he said.

Pelletier said his mother Ida, who was present, has been a wealth of information, and that he’s also been working with Tom Peterson, a member of the Jasper Yellowhead Historical Society, whose members were invited to the talk.