François Beaulieu, guide&leader spirituel métis

D'un océan à l'autre à l'autre, je suis ravi de vous présenter François Beaulieu (1771-1872!), leader spirituel métis, fils de Jacques né au Québec et d'une Chipewyanne du Nord-Ouest. A guidé non seulement Mackenzie au Pacifique mais aussi Franklin dans l'Arctique. Peut-être devrions-nous entendre parler davantage de tels géants?

Après une multitude d'années de canardage, je suis convaincu qu'une reprise des francos en Amérique est intimement liée à une prise de connaissance de l'Histoire des métis du "Nord-Ouest", car elle se répète à mon avis. Aura-t-elle lieu? Fallait poser la question dans la Forêt des Carnutes...

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Francois Beaulieu (1771-1872 ***101 ans!*** ), Metis, born Salt River, a tributary of the Slave River, south of Great Slave Lake aka Lake Lotchinine (Etchareottiee) is the son of a French-Canadian named Jacques Beaulieu and a Chipewyan woman. Others suggest she was a Montagnais from the east. Some claim he was raised by the Dogribs. The Dogrib however became his bitter enemy. It is believed he had 7 wives and had killed 12 people.

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/dgarneau/metis19a.htm (du site de l'albertain Dick Garneau, L'Autorité en matière de généalogie Métis)

Francois Beaulieu devint un "holy man" en matière de spiritualité autochtone selon http://www.peace.mb.ca/00.Native/nlrnz11.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Beaulieu

+ http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-f.php?&id_nbr=4814

Dans les reportages de "Nor-Ouest II", à la toute fin des 10 émissions, on y fait la liste des passagers qui ont accompagné McKenzie:

http://www.mwlandry.ca/landryjoseph.htm

EXTRAIT:

"Il entra dans ce mince canot, des provisions , des marchandises pour faire des présens , des armes , des munitions et du bagage, le tout pesant ensemble trois milliers, et dix hommes.

Mon équipage était composé d'Alexandre Mackay , de Joseph Landry , de Charles Doucette (1), de François Beaulieu ., de Baptiste Bisson, de François Courtois et de Jacques Beauchamp (2). J'avais , en outre, deux Indiens chasseurs et interprètes ,

(1) Joseph Landry et Charles Doucette m'accompagnaient dans mon premier voyage.
(Note de l'auteur).
(2) Ou voit qu'excepté le premier, tous ces noms sont français.

FIN DE L'EXTRAIT

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PS: pour ceux qui ne l'ont pas vu, achetez-vous le DVD de "Nor-OuestII"!! Tout simplement fantastique!!
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Petite correction: le père François Beaulieu a escorté McKenzie et le fils (également appelé François et mort à 101 ans) a guidé Franklin.

J'ai réussi à en savoir plus sur la tombe du personnage légendaire via une descendante (Métis) qui travaille pour Parc Canada Wood Buffalo Park):

Citation :

The park has commemorated him as a National Historic Person of Significance. The plaque needs to be put up and a ceremony held. [...]

His grave is kept a secret by local elders, but we do know the grave site is somewhere in the vicinity of the Salt River settlement. Francois Beaulieu II founded the Salt River settlement and it is not in the park.

+

Citation :

On the basis of the information before it, the Board found
that François Beaulieu II was one of the founding fathers of the Métis in the
Northwest Territories. As head of the
Beaulieu family and as a Chipewyan-Métis trading chief, his example established
a pattern of Métis leadership that endured beyond his time.





He was also seen to be a dominant figure in the far
northwest during the critical period from early European contact with the Dene,
through the competitive years of the fur trade, and ultimately to the end of
the Hudson’s Bay Company monopoly and the birth of Canada. As one of the pre-eminent Métis leaders of
his age, Beaulieu’s work, both for the fur companies and later as an
independent trader, helped to establish the economic and social links between
the people of the Mackenzie River Basin and what, in his lifetime, became
Canada. His collaboration with the
First and Second Franklin Expeditions, and later with Father Émile Petitot,
played a critical role in the evolving European understanding of the western
Arctic region. Beaulieu’s influence as
a free trader in the age of the fur trade monopoly was critical in helping to
develop an independent economic base for the Métis of the far north.





Beaulieu was a contributing factor to the establishment of
the Roman Catholic Church in the western Arctic (the Church played a
significant role in the evolution of Métis society); and, his legacy represents
an enduring and significant historical presence in northern Alberta and the
Northwest Territories.





Recommendations





Designation: The
Board recommended





François Beaulieu II (died
1872) for designation as a person of national historic significance.








.../2









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Commemorative intent:
The Board recommended François Beaulieu II for designation because





he was one of the founding
fathers of the Métis in the Northwest Territories;





he was a dominant figure
in the far northwest during the critical period from early European contact
with the Dene, through the competitive years of the fur trade, and ultimately
to the end of the Hudson’s Bay Company monopoly and the birth of Canada;





he was a contributing
factor to the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church in the western Arctic
(the Church played a significant role in the evolution of Métis society); and,





his legacy represents an
enduring and significant historical presence in northern Alberta and the
Northwest Territories.