Metis Community at Shell Lake

As indicated in the primary source interview with Ernie Vandale, there is a significant Metis community at Shell Lake. 

The establishment of predominantly Metis communities has provided a haven for Metis people to engage in cultural traditions. These traditions include community gatherings/celebrations with fiddling and dancing, religious practices informed by both Indigenous and Catholic traditions, and spoken Michif. The broad kinship support systems within these communities have also provided solidarity and solace when faced with racism, socioeconomic discrimination, and the loss of land-bases. 

"Ernie was interviewed on April 5, 1984 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Ernie shares his memories of growing up in a log house on a homestead. He discusses some of his father’s jobs and their food sources. Ernie did some genealogy and traced his family back 220 years to Belgium. He also talks about what it means to be Métis, how everybody got along during his childhood and youth, the role the church played in his life, and his recollections of Métis Society." - Gabriel Dumont Institute, Transcript description,  https://www.metismuseum.ca/resource.php/01022