Aboriginal groups now confident to share their history

“It was a hurt and was carried for a long time,” MacDonald said.

Many of her ancestors insisted they would never come back, and many died true to their word. Yet memories of the land translated through the generations.

“Through oral history, we knew the history and topography of Jasper National Park,” MacDonald said.

She recounts the story of her leader Dave McPhee, whose father, near death, wished to return to the Moberly homestead for one last look. It was before the site had been partially restored or marked with a plaque, but even though he hadn’t seen the land in decades, the man, on oxygen, directed his son to the exact site. The man was too old to cross the Snaring river, but that didn’t matter.

“Dave carried him across the river and they did see the homestead. He was the first in the family to come back to the park,” MacDonald said, noting the importance of the return.

MacDonald’s story is but one in the narrative of Jasper National Park, who for the past six years have been attempting to repair relationships with indigenous peoples. While MacDonald said Jasper is a special and emotional place for her relatives, but she is grateful for the chance to return.

There are currently 24 groups of indigenous people who claim Jasper National Park as their traditional home, and each has their own story. They have been encouraged to tell their stories by Parks Canada and help the public connect with the shared histories that exist on the landscape, as well as negotiate a return in various forms following the loss of traditional land 100 years ago.

Much of the Metis story was on display last week during Aboriginal Days. Teepees reached to the sky, while the smell of fried bannock wafted through the air. Moose hide tanning and pack horse demonstrations told stories of a people who were evicted from the park 100 years ago, leaving the Moberly homestead to settle in Hinton and Grande Cache. Not much is known about why the family split, but the decedents returned to Jasper to tell their own stories.

Ken Groat is an elder and descendent from the Moberly family who currently lives in the Brule area. He helped lead a group of Mountain Metis children on a 10 day horseback trip from Grande Cache to Jasper last summer as part of the 100th anniversary of the aboriginal eviction from the National Park. He expressed his appreciation for the chance to return.

“It’s good to show people there is a history of natives in the park,” Groat said. “We’re all related from a long way back.”

He praised Parks Canada for their co-operation with this year’s Aboriginal Days, and said work is being done to restore relationships. Busy with questions from tourists and current local residents alike, he’s quick to share stories of traditional ways.

“They are very interested,” he said.

Dale Desjarlais, the granddaughter of John Moberly, said the return to the park is significant.

“It means a lot to me. It’s like coming home,” she said. “We were being ignored, but now we’re not. We were the forgotten people.”

She believes Parks Canada is doing enough to include everyone, and help sharing and healing come along - something she feels is overdue.

Many aboriginal children weren’t taught about their culture, however they are learning it once again, Desjarlais said. It’s where she sees the most hope for her stories.

For Ron Pelletier, a member of the decedents of Jasper National Park (a group of families with ties back to the Moberlys, Findlays and other indigenous families), the story of the land obviously traces back further than Sir Wilfred Laurier’s signature that created the park.

He’s spent countless hours in the National Archives, researching his families ties to the land and the deals that were made to move indigenous people away. 

While some of the families were paid for their homes, others received nothing.

His family used to use the land in the park as a commercial base, with traplines and trading posts set up on the Moberly homestead and through the town of Jasper. Fields of barley grew throughout the valley, and a ferry helped fuel commerce on the waterways, completely controlled by the aboriginal people.

“We were entrepreneurs. We were guiding,” Pelletier said. “However that signature (Laurier’s) on that piece of paper changed our life forever. Since then we’ve been trying to tell our story.”

After the park’s creation, many now recognized as key players in the Jasper story - Curly Phillips, Fred Brewster - set up their own commercial operations and soon employed some of the natives who had been evicted from the park, Pelletier said.

According to some, it created a very different history than other tribes.

“We never really left,” said Rick Ouellet, spokesman for the decedents of Jasper National Park.

Pelletier and Ouellet are often mistaken for Metis, however they reject that label, stating it is not part of their story. They note Metis means mixed blood, but usually in the French - aboriginal sense.

“We’re Metis because of the Shuswap and the Iroquois,” Ouellet said. “We haven’t made a deal yet.”

The story continues to vary from that of other First Nation, Inuit and Metis tribes, he said. One with a different relationship with the government and the church.

“It was the Iroquois who brought Catholicism west 50 years before the missionaries,” Ouellet said. “They carried Iroquois bibles.”

As for the continuation of his story, Pelletier would like a settlement set up at the Moberly homestead. He says it’s a surefire way to boost economic development in the park, and increase visitation, as well as properly recognize the families’ ties to the area. While family history and cultural experiences are important, he said Parks Canada could also benefit from the situation.

“I told the superintendent (Greg Fenton) I can guarantee it will increase your gate revenue,” Pelletier said. 

“We need to get back to a place of respect rather than just adopting what we’re given,” Ouellet said.

Fenton said discussions with First Nations people have been going on for a relatively short period of time through the Aboriginal Forum (which began in 2006) and the Council of Elders (2004). Allowing first nations people to return to the Park and share their stories is the first step in a long process, he said, and the need to recognize multiple perspectives is important.

“The discussions to develop reconciliation have been relatively recent,” Fenton said.

He said Parks Canada is on the right track in its negotiations with the First Nations people, and wants them to feel comfortable on the landscape. 

For years, many indigenous people would not return to the park, or would sneak in to perform traditional ceremonies. Now, they are invited back to the park, have been given opportunities to set up commercial operations and more is set to come in the future.

“We’ve extended the hand and the offer of what we can do together. It will take some time,” Fenton said. “We will facilitate with communities to showcase their history and culture... We will try to work with the communities to have a permanent presence in the park.”

For Barry Wesley of the Chiniki Stoney First Nation, Parks is doing its job in helping the Nations return to the land. A man of few words, Wesley spoke of how his ancestors used the area for ceremonial purposes, and how the door has been opened for a return.

Asked about the return to the park, Wesley has only respect: “I’m thankful.”