Louis Dorion Interview (1)

Louis Dorion was born in Cumberland House. His family had a big garden and horses, they picked berries, roots, and flowers. Louis recounts the Métis families in the community and the system of reciprocity. They mostly came from The Pas, Manitoba, and the Red River settlement. Due to the Indian Affair policies, they relocated in Manitoba’s mining towns, as well as Flin Flon, Snow Lake, and Thompson. Trapping, fishing, and logging were some of the major economic factors of Cumberland House. Louis worked in a co-op sawmill for Ralph Knudson. Louis recounts his grandfather's fishing life, who practiced commercial fishing. He describes the fisheries Co-op house operations. Three or four stores served the community. His grandfather Dorion bought the Hudson's Bay Company trading store. Dorion was involved in “freighting, hauling and portaging of goods and furs along the waterways.” He calls “fur lease” the rule on the boreal forest, HBC first and then the Government of Saskatchewan’s Co-op. Moreover, Dorion was a guide for the North West Mounted Police, at Pelican Narrows, Ile-a-la-Crosse, and Buffalo Narrows. Louis describes the housing and gender roles in the household at Cumberland House. Louis recounts in detail the Department of Natural Resources’ role in his community in the 1950s-1960s. Louis recounts the displacement of his paternal family, inside or outside Cumberland House. Louis went to the Charlebois school, in Cumberland House, run by the church. He complains that “grade eight was the maximum education allowed by Government policy for the Northern Administration District.” When he was 26, he and some of his family members left for the Second World War, 6 of them were killed in combat including his father, Napoleon Morin. After the war, the veterans were often seriously wounded - they received little compensation, assistance, or land. In winter, Louis recalls people socializing and had entertainment in the two Cumberland community halls, with dances, fiddlers and guitars players, pies, cakes, and bingo. Louis describes the wedding and funeral customs. -------------------- Keywords: Healthcare, Employment, Community Breaking/Fracture, Integration & Mobility, Land use (Subsistence Patterns), Resource Degradation, Government Funding, Housing, Women and Gender, Fur Trade, Fur Marketing Service, Federal Governance, Provincial Governance, Reserve System, Lack of Access to Education, Religion, Warfare, Racism, Family Allowance