BLOOD RESERVE CENSUS 1901

The Blood Reserve was Canada's largest reserve at one time. The Blood were also known as the Kainai. 
This census from 1901 shows names that would not necessarily be accurate. Were these names given by the people themselves or were they written by a census taker using his own criteria for naming? Many were very insulting and I didn't use a photo of those pages. This is why I question how the names were arrived upon. You can click on the picture to make it bigger.

Some of the names are:

• Long Time Pipe Woman
• Crop Ear Wolf
• Taking Gun in Night
• Bruised Head

These are not insulting at all but I assure you on subsequent pages there were many that were. I could be wrong but I don't think they referred to themselves in some of those derogatory terms.
There is a beautiful book by George Webber about this reserve called People of the Blood.

ORGANIZATION IS KEY

flickr.com/photos/82325649@N00/2775149207

 I used to have lots of time to work on family trees. Since going back to work full time however things have obviously changed. When I found a little extra time this weekend I started going back through the emails I had saved into my family tree folder. 

Over the last several months (and some longer) I have saved emails from distant relatives who have contacted me and are sharing pictures and pedigrees with me. I would have had the time to add them into my tree but first I will have to check out the information for myself and find some sources for each and every person. This will take a lot of time. 

I really appreciate the generosity of these people (keep it coming) but I feel badly that I haven't updated things with these new found family members. 

How about you? Do you have stacks of data just waiting to be proved before you add it to your tree? Have you ever added stuff in without checking and then found it all to be incorrect? YES!!!! Have you sent information to someone and then noticed they never added it to their trees? 

JEAN BAPTISTE MALATERRE

I came across this notation years ago and kept it even though Jean Baptiste Malaterre is not related to me that I know of.
"On July 12, 1851, a small band of Métis buffalo hunters from Saint Francois-Xavier on the Assiniboine River in the Red River Settlement encountered and on July 13 and 14 fought and defeated some hundreds of Sioux warriors on the first slope of the Grand Coteau of the Missouri southeast of Minot in what is now North Dakota. This was the most formidable, as it was the last, of the encounters between the buffalo hunters of Red River and the Sioux of the American plains.
It did not end well for many but for Jean Baptiste it was especially violent. 

MAL À TERRE Jean-Baptiste
d. and s. 13 Jul 1851*
Witnesses Pascal Breland, Charles Montmini
* Burried near the rivière des Chayenne, killed by the Sioux, feet and hands cut, scalped, with a broken scull, his brain lying on the ground. He had gun wounds, 67 arrows and three knives sunk in his body. The exact quote: «Nous soussigné avons inhumé près de la rivière des Chayennes le corps de l'infortuné Jean Baptiste Mal à terre, massacré le même jour par les Sioux. Il fut retrouvé les piés et les mains coupés, la chevelure levée, le crâne cassé et la cervelle répandue sur la terre et ayant dans le corps en outre des trous coups de fusil, soixante sept flèches et trois couteaux plantés."

MHS Transactions, Series 3, 1959-60 seasonMHS Transactions were originally published by the Manitoba Historical Society on the above date. We make online versions available as a free, public service. As an historical document, Transactions may contain language that is no longer in common use and which may offend some readers. They should not be construed to represent the views of today’s Manitoba Historical Society.

THOMAS BRUNEAU AND ADELAIDE LANDRY

My second great grandparents, Thomas Stanislaus Bruneau and Adelaide Landry were married in 1857. In 1860 the St. Boniface church which held so many records for the area, burned to the ground and pretty much all was lost.
Some 27 years later Thomas Bruneau swore out a statement declaring their marriage information likely to establish claim for Scrip payment for Metis of the area.

 http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e001/e000011114.jpg

"I Thomas Bruneau of the Parish of St. Peter, Rat River in the county of Provencher, and Province of Manitoba; farmer; make oath and say, that on or about the twenty fifth day of January A.D. 1867, I was joined in the Holy Hands Bonds (thanks TK) of matrimony with Adelaide Landry; at the Parish of St. Boniface; Red River Settlement, by the Reverend father Beremont; who was then acting as Parish Priest. That subsequently through fire; the records of the said Parish of St. Boniface were destroyed, and no records now to be found to establish my said marriage."

               his

 Thomas X Bruneau

            mark

Sworn before me at                                                                      
Winnipeg in the county Selkirk this 17 day                       
of September a.d.1880                                                                
S. Macdonald

PHOTOS FROM LONG AGO

I thought you might enjoy these old photos. We family historians are all about the old stuff aren't we? You can click on the arrows at the bottom of the slide show to advance the pictures. There are a lot of them.
You can see them full screen by clicking that option at the top of the slide show. 
TIME GONE BY

By the way...I have been on those roads shown....The Fraser Canyon and the Bella Coola road. The Fraser Canyon has improved a lot since that photo was taken but the Bella Coola road...no so much. Shriek!!!

SHARE A SLICE OF YOUR LIFE - FIRSTS

Share A Slice of Your Life has asked us to write about a first in our lives or the lives of our ancestors. This is a new site and you should head over for a peek and maybe join in. 

I know many of  you have seen this story before but I couldn't think of a bigger first than this one. 

I am re-posting this story of my 11th great grandfather who was the first apothecary in New France. His family was the first family to come intact from France to live in the new country. 

 The other first for this meme is is the fact that it is my blogoversary here. 1 year anniversary. You know what? I didn't even remember. Teena in Toronto noticed and sent me good wishes. Thanks Teena. 

Louis Hebert was a very important man in the early history of New France (Quebec). He was my 11th. Great Grandfather and here is what I know about him.
Louis was born about 1575 in St. Germain, d'Auxerre, France apparently living in a house near the Louvre. He was also married in France but came to New France without his family.
Louis Hebert was an apothecary. This would be like a herbalist/pharmacist at the time.
In 1606 Louis Hebert sailed with Samuel Champlain to Port Royal, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. There is a river and an island named for Hebert. In the summer of that same year they sailed to the southwest looking for suitable sites for settlement. The area they were attracted to is now Gloucester, Massachusetts. Louis was known for cultivating land and they planted a clearing there to test the soil fertility. He planned to bring his family there.
At one point in this expedition Louis, Samuel Champlain and others leaped from their ship in the middle of the night to aid some of the men from the ship who against orders did not stay on board and were now being attacked by the inhabitants of the area. They returned to France in 1607. I will continue this story with the return of Louis to New France in 1610 in another post.

addendum: this post has been previously published on my other site Family Trees May Contain Nuts

PROCLAIMATION - GENERAL AMNESTY

I am Metis. My mother's family were from Manitoba and several of them fought with Louis Riel in the Rebellion in the North West Territories.
Some of these brave men were granted amnesty as they were said to have been "misguided" while others had to serve out their sentences.
You can click on the pictures to make them big enough to read.