The road to Choteau, Montana. After the 1885 Resistance, Métis in Montana faced increased prejudice and moved deeper into the Rocky Mountain Front. Métis had permanent settlements in Montana by 1855, but had a much longer history in Montana as hunters and traders.
In June, I was finally able to return to Choteau, Montana, for the annual Métis Music and Art Festival, after a three-year hiatus. Organizers were forced to cancel the Festival in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021 the US/Canada border was still closed to Canadians (such as myself) wishing to attend the event.
A combination of the ongoing impact of COVID and the organizational challenges of running an event like this meant that the gathering was smaller than usual, with only about fifty attendees and a couple of vendors. But the impact of the Festival remained significant, and the connections and friendships that were built through the gathering will, I have no doubt, carry on for years to come.
Like many Métis cultural festivals, the Métis Music and Art Festival is an opportunity for attendees to find cousins, and to (re)connect with their histories and culture.
Some of the stories offered to attendees were difficult to hear, and undoubtedly difficult to speak about.
During an Elders’ Circle, Al Wiseman shared some of his experiences as a Métis person growing up in Montana. He told attendees that he was considered “a dirty little breed kid” and said, “That stung, and it’s still here with me today. It’ll never leave me.”
Elders circle at the 2022 Métis Music and Art Festival. From left to right: Elaine Wiseman (Choteau, MT), Al Wiseman (Choteau, MT), Daniel Pocha (Helena, MT), Ike Ameline (Choteau, MT), Rod McLeod (Lethbridge, AB).
Other attendees noted that they simply didn’t know about their history and culture. It wasn’t talked about. In these stories, there is always a sense of loss about what could have been—what should have been.
As ethnobotanist Roslyn LePier noted during her presentation on plants, Métis culture has been “dormant” in many families and communities for a long time.
Dr. Roslyn LePier, presenting on traditional plant use as food and medicine.
But other stories sit on a foundation of hope and joy. In fact, LePier pointed out that Métis culture has been alive and well in some Montana families for 150 years, and it is clear that many people attend as they work towards once again centering Métis ways of being in their own lives and those of their families.
Fred “Jiggs” Charette shared two moving stories with me and gave me permission to share them here. The first story was about someone who came to the event wishing to find her family. As an adoptee, she didn’t know much, but knew that she was related to the Charettes. When she arrived at the Art and Culture Festival, she walked into the Choteau Pavilion (an old roller derby hall, where the event is held) and the first person she met with Jiggs—who she didn’t know, and didn’t know would be in attendance. As Charette introduced himself, tears ran down her face. She was where she needed to be.
The second story took place after someone came up to Jiggs at the festival and said that he wanted help finding family. He had a big binder with information that he had found so far, and opened it to a picture in the middle. Jiggs looked at the picture, and said, “that’s my great-grandfather.” Someone nearby saw the picture and said, “Oh, that’s Jean-Baptiste Charette, my great-grandfather.” They had never met before.
So, what does this have to do with music?
On the last day of the event, as I sat eating my breakfast at a nearby hotel, an attendee began sharing the story of his mother’s family who had lived in Choteau one hundred years earlier, but had moved away long ago. His mother’s father and uncles played the fiddle and piano in the very same hall where the Music and Art festival was taking place. It was clear to me that he found the experience of the festival—the connection it created with his ancestors—to be a powerful reconnection, and in a sense a coming home. Music has always brought people together in community and as celebration. Just as it brought the Métis of Choteau, Montana, together a hundred years ago, it continues bringing people together today.
The Choteau Pavilion, where the Métis Art and Culture Festival has taken place since 2017. It was built in 1921, and was used as a roller skate rink as well as for music gatherings as described above.
Be sure to watch for details about the 2023 Métis Music and Art Festival!