Billyjo DeLaRonde Interview (01)

"My (Daniel) father’s parents were Magloire DeLaRonde and Magloire DeLaRonde’s father was Louis DeLaRonde who was married to Judile Morin who was the daughter of Antoine Morin and Pélagie Boucher which come from this Green Lake area. Louis, Judile’s husband, his father was Louis DeLaRonde Sr. He is from the Red River community, Métis community. On my mother’s mother side ... oh as well my father’s mom was Adeline Chartrand and her parents were William Chartrand and Sophie Genaille. William’s father was Bacheese (Baptiste) Chartrand and Louise (?), an Indian woman. Sophie Genaille’s parents were Pierre Genaille, a French Canadian from Quebec, and his wife was Charlotte Lafleur, which was from around Île­à­la‐Crosse. On my mother’s side, my mom was Lizzy (Elizabeth) Campbell, her mother was Élise Richard and her parents were William Richard and Madeleine (?), an Indian woman. And her Father was John Campbell and John Campbell’s father was Joseph Alexander Campbell and we can trace that ancestry ack to Scotland. So that’s my background I guess is a lot of Plains Cree, Anishinabe, re b F nch, and Scottish." Billyjo DeLaRonde, page 1 --------------------------------------- Billyjo’s family was numerous, he had 15 siblings. They raised cattle and horses, trapped, hunted, and fished. His father managed a fishing operation. Billyjo’s mother ran a household. DeLaRonde states that their land, resources, and food began to be exploited without recognizing their Indigenous rights. Billyjo remembers hunting with his father. DeLaRonde recounts the creation of the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) in 1967, at the Marlborough Hotel in Winnipeg. Billyjo addresses the relations between the Métis community of Duck Bay and the reserve established by Treaty 4, from the negotiations to the second half of the 20th century. DeLaRonde has held many positioins within the MMF since he was 15 years old, from Secretary of a Local to President. During his presidency, DeLaRonde was involved in the process of MMF's transformation from a type of "company" to a type of national government. Furthermore, Billyjo reports the story of the erection of the first statue of Louis Riel in Manitoba under the Ed Schreyer NDP government. Then, Billyjo considers how historical events framed identities and historical consciousness, such as the advance of the Red River Expeditionary Force in Manitoba, the Manitoba Act, Cuthbert Grant and Bostonnais Pangman. Billyjo was mayor of a Métis community and Chairman of Frontier's School Division. -------------------- Keywords: Land use (Subsistence Patterns), Integration & Mobility, Resource Degradation, Indian Act, Federal Governance, Local Governance, Provincial Governance, Treaties, Lack of Access to Education, Warfare, Integration & Mobility