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The file consists of the transcript of four stories told by Joe Jerome to Mod Mandeville.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Stories: Story #1: A woman is captured by the Eskimo and taken back to their land and after a while she gives birth to a boy. She decides to run away and take her son with her. During her escape, she leaves her son because she
is afraid that he will eventually kill her. Along the way, she discovers a shiny mineral deposit [copper?]. She puts some in her pack sack and while she is travelling leaves a sample on top of two hills and another on the shores of Great Slave Lake. When she rejoins her people, she shows them how to make knives and spears from the ore. Joe Jerome thinks that the samples on the shores of Great Slave Lake could be the
mines in Yellowknife and the samples that she left on her way to the lake could be Discovery Mines and Coppermine. Story #2: A man by the name of Squirrel was captured by the Cree when he was hunting moose. He is taken to live with the Cree band for a while and is even given a wife. He is unhappy however and misses his wife and children and finally escapes and returns to his people. Story #3: About how a smart man was able to outwit an enemy in the winter using thin ice to his advantage. Story #4: Two boys go out hunting together, but only one of the brothers returns home. The story includes running into a family of giants, a mother and her two daughters (one called Weasel and the other called Mouse), and about landing in an eagle nest.

The file consists of the transcript of an oral history interview with Albert Jewel in January 1977 in Fort Smith. The interviewer is John Evans. The file also contains notes from Joanne Overvold from a conversation with Albert Jewel and a family history summary. Interview notes from 1992 Index: Father's name, Ernest Jewell. He was from Scotland. He trapped around Fort Chipewyan. Mother's name, Ruth Tourangeau. She was a Treaty Indian. She lived to be 99 years old. She died in 1964. Albert was born in 1903 in Chipewyan on the Hay River. Albert's wife was
Agnes Mercredi, sister to Louis Mercredi. She died in 1965.

The file consists of the transcript of an oral history interview with Ed Jones on January 21, 1977 in Fort Smith. His wife and son occasionally add comments. The interviewer is Ray Price. The file also includes a family history summary.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Father, Henry Jones, was born in Bristol, England in approximately 1864. He was in the British Merchant
Navy and travelled all over the world before he came to Canada. He died in his 70's, about 1934. Mother, Chardette Sarcel, was of Slavey and Nahanni descent. She died in the 1928 Flu epidemic. Wife, Delphine Beaulieu, is the daughter of Louison Beaulieu. Her great great grandfather went with Alexander Mackenzie to the Pacific Ocean. Her mother was a Dosnoir from Fort Vermillion. Ed was born in 1900. Brothers and sisters, Dora (died), Alfred (died), Fred (died), and Henry.

The file consists of the transcript of an oral history interview with Henry Jones on January 18, 1977 in Fort Resolution. The interviewers are Joanne Overvold and Ray Price. The file also includes a family history summary.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Father, Henry Jones, was an Englishman from London. He came to Canada because of the Klondike Gold Rush or for the gold in the Caribou Mountains. Previous to this he had travelled widely with the British Merchant Navy. He died in 1932-33 at 75 years of age and is buried at Fort Resolution. Henry was born in 1906 in Hay River. Brothers and sisters: Eddy, Alfred, Dora and Fred.
Henry has 12 children. He has been married twice. His first wife's name was Christine McKay. Book mentioned in interview by Charles Camsell called 4 "Son of the North."

The file consists of the transcript of the Life Story of Jim Koe as told by Jim.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Jim Koe was born in 1905 (1901?]. Says that he is 76 years old. [One of the numbers is wrong because the
tape was done in 1977]. He was 5 years old when his mother died. He had a brother Andrew who died while they were attending Mission school in Hay River. Place name in Loucheux[?] for a famous and fairly big hill for caribou called "Odesez Odesez canez de ray (?) ." "Well my grandfather was quite a trapper, well off, and at that time the people were getting off their feet they had dry boats, and my grandfather had two schooners, he also had a store."

The file consists of the transcript of an oral history interview with Albert Lafferty on March 23, 1977 in Fort Good Hope. The interviewer is Joanne Overvold.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Albert was born in Fort Nelson in 1906. His father was Boniface Lafferty. ·His grandfather was Louison Lafferty. Catherine Bouvier was his maternal grandmother (Beaulieu and Bouvier on Albert's mother's side and Lafferty on his dad's side). " ... and they all came from the same place, Manitoba. And my dad told me that Louis Riel was related to my dad on his (dad's/ mother's?) side. " [Al:] " ... I don't know if my grandfather Lafferty brought his family when he moved first to Fort Rae. [Jo:] Louison Lafferty di . [Al:] His first name was Lenoir, his original name was Lenoir he changed it Laferte as French. [Jo:] With an accent.
[Al:] Yeah and later on the Irishman spelled it Irish, it's not right should be Laferte, cuz there were lots of Laferte's in Fort Rae." Albert first was married to Monique Ritay [Ritias] in 1933. She died in 1938 from TB. They had no children. He then married Elizabeth Barnaby.
Story about how Little Chicago got its name. "They told me there was 3 hunters staying in a shack, long time ago. It was a long winter and they didn't get around along, they would argue and get into a fight. That's how it got its name and so they called it little Chicago."

The file consists of the transcript of an oral history interview with Celine Lafferty on February 18, 1977. The interviewers are Joanne Overvold and Ray Price.

Interview notes from 1992 Index: Father, Andrew Laviolette (adopted by Laviolettes in Fort Wrigley). Died in 1911[?). Mother, Madelaine, was from Fort Providence. Died when Celine was 1 1/2 years old. Three girls in the family - Celine, Isabette and(?). Celine was born in Fort Providence and married in 1924 at the age of 23 (Celine born in 1901?) to Joe Lafferty. Celine's mother-in-law,. Madelaine Bouvier. Celine's daughter-in-law, Maggie Villeneuve. Celine had 9 children including Keri, Gabe, Ernestine, Guy, Albertine, and Beatrice. She is related to Philip Bonnetrouge (his mother and Celine's were sisters) .
In 1942, the Army was in Providence. "Every woman was working for them, I used to take them bread if they (wanted home made bread, I used to wash their clothes, I used to make soap for them too, and made hoods on their parkas. They sure kept us busy." Celine's husband, Joe, worked on the boats for about 60 years. Also mentions murderer Albert Lebeau.

Please note that the document uses a derogatory term to refer to a person with mixed heritage. We have reproduced this term in the digitized document because it is a part of the original historical record.

The file consists of an oral history interview with Bud McLeod and Archie Mandeville on February 28, 1977 in Edmonton, Alberta. The interviewer was Ray Price.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Archie's father, William Hayes, was a steamboat engineer on the Hudson's Bay Company boats. His mother, Mary Mandeville, was the daughter of the Mandeville family from Fort Smith that ran and organized the farm on the other side of the river. She died in 1959. Archie took his mother's name (from the Missionary instruction?). Archie was born in 1911 and married in
1934 to Mary Heron, Ned Heron's daughter.
Bud talks about the mystery surrounding his uncles' (Willie and Frank McLeod) murder in the Nahanni area at Deadman's Valley.

The file consists of the transcript of an oral history interview with Elizabeth Mercredi in Fort Smith. The interviewers are Ray Price and Joanne Overvold.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Elizabeth was born in 1888 in St. Albert, about 9 miles out of Edmonton. Her parents were Alec Tourangeau and Louise Beaudry. Her mother died when she was six and her father went away after she died. He travelled with the McLeod brothers to Fort Simpson and then trapped out of there. Elizabeth didn't see him again until about a year before he died. She married Isadore Mercredi on April 27, 1908. They had 7 children, 2 of whom died. Her husband Isadore died in June of 1966. He was
two or three years older than Elizabeth. Elizabeth worked for the R.C.M.P. in the barracks as a guard from 1926-1960. ****Tape 2/84 is warped so it was only partly transcribed.

The file consists of the transcript of an oral history interview with Eugene Mercredi and John Evans in Fort Smith. The interviewer was Joanne Overvold.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Eugene was born in February 1911 in Fort Chipewyan. He was married in February 1933. His wife's name is Rosa Beaulieu. They had two girls (Annie and Maggie) and one boy (Gene}. Eugene's father's name, Isadore Mercredi. He died in June 1966. Eugene's uncles are Philip, Leon, Victor and Stan Mercredi. Father-in-law's name, Maurice Beaulieu. Eugene joined the army in 1940 and was overseas for nearly 6 years. Four men from the Fort Smith area went to Europe during WWII: Eugene Mercredi, Maurice Evans Sr., Frank McLeod (in Fort St. John now), and August Beaulieu· (died in an accident in Fort Resolution).

The file consists of the transcript of an oral history interview with Louis Mercredi and John Evans in Fort Smith. The interviewer was Joanne Overvold.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Louis was born in 1894 in Fort Smith. His grandfather's name was Joseph Mercredi. Louis's father died in about 1932 at about 62 years old. He's buried in Fort Fitzgerald.

The file consists of the transcript of an oral history interview with Rene Mercredi in Fort Smith on May 5, 1977. The interviewers were Joanne Overvold and Glen ___.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Rene was born in about 1914. [He said he would be 63 in the spring - interview done on May 5, 1977. His mother was 88 or 89 then - 1977]. Rene's grandmother's name was Marie. He also had an aunt by the name of Calone [Marie Coloumbe] who wanted to be a Sister (nun). at one. time, but she was apparently talked out of it by Rene's grandmother [Marie]. His father's name was Isadore. Rene and Joanne just finished talking about people coming from camps to Fort Resolution to be paid Treaty and Rene describes these camps as being made up of "A family unit more or less." "JO: In these family units, would they have a leader? RENE: I imagine so yes, the oldest, the old grandfather was more or less the leader. JO: You wouldn't know their system they had? Socialist or Communist. RENE: I don't know, I didn't know too much about politics. JO: No, I was thinking more of their camps,. _would there be someone to make all the decisions, or would everyone participate, would the women participate. RENE: I think most of the older men
would get together, talk it over and agree on some plan of some sort. Not the women though. We were not allowed, call us chauvinistic, the women had their place. JO: I bet they had a lot of influence in the home. RENE: Oh yeah, at least in my home my grandmother wasn't Yes, yes, yes, no way my grandmother had mind of her own too. I wouldn't say she was the dominant one but pretty close though. Once in awhile she would retreat." p.10-11 ****Rene speaks about a "rough French patoir-[patois] ." p.20 Could this refer to Michif?

The file consists of notes from an oral history interview with Father Pat Mercredi in Edmonton on December 1, 1977. The interviewer was Ray Price.

Interview notes from 1992 Index: Apparently, the name Mercredi as far as he's concerned comes from his father's father's side of the family who was a McCarthy. A Priest who was a French speaking Priest in Chip couldn't handle the th in that and altered the word to Mercredi. His mother was a McDonald and his father a Mercredi and there are Tourangeau in his family tree as well as McDonald and McCarthy. He states that he is a mixture of French and Cree and Irish and Scottish. "The Priests have failed to really live with the native
people, they have lived among them but have not lived with them. He says, this is the basic failure of the Church. He says, he hears constantly from the Church that what are we going to do we're losing the native people, they're leaving us. We would never have lost them if we went there to evangilize [evangelize] and not civilize. We'd never lose them if we lived with them not just among them." (p.6) "One of the things that came out constantly is that he has been discriminated against all his life, discriminated against by fellow priest, discriminated against by the Brothers in the service of the priesthood, discriminated against in College and in semenary [seminary]. And it was explicitly at one time that he was sent to France for 4 years in order to Frenchify him, to make him a cultured man and to turn him into a Frenchman. They haven't been able to succeed and the older he gets the more he goes back to his roots, and he feels it is in Fort Chipewyan and in the North American Indian culture, a culture that was dependent directly upon the land for survival." (p.l) Father Mercredi has translated over 320 hymns into Cree but he can't get them published.

[Please note that the PDF contains discussion of anti-Indigenous racism and reports some racist comments that Father Mercredi had heard.]

The file consists of the transcript from an oral history interview with Alex Morin in Hay River on February 9, 1977. The interviewers were Ray Price and Joanne Overvold.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: His mother's name was Bessie Daillon. His father, Dan Morin, was born in Meadow Lake. There was just his sister and he in the family. His brother died. He also has 2 half brothers and 2 half sisters. The Morin's come from Green Lake, Saskatchewan. There are also Morins in Sandy Bay, The Pas and Meadow Lake. Alex was married in 1950 in Saskatchewan. There is a lot of information in this interview about commercial fishing (on nets, quotas on catches, fishing areas around the lake, fishing companies, prices, types of fish including a discussion on "rough fish," accidents, different fishing areas on the lake, water conditions, parasites and working conditions.

The file consists of a partial transcript of a birthday celebration of Chief Jimmy Bruneau's 80th Birthday and Mrs. Murphy's 90th Birthday held in Fort Rae (Behchoko). The transcript includes a letter from federal Minister Ellen Fairclough, greetings from Indian Affairs, and the presentation of gifts.

The file consists of a transcript of an oral history interview with Frank Norn in Hay River on February 9, 1977. The interviewers were Joanne Overvold and Ray Price.

Please note that the interview uses a derogatory term to refer to a person with mixed heritage. We have reproduced this term in the digitized document and quoted interview notes below because it is a part of the original historical record.

Interview notes from 1992 Index: Frank's father, Charlie Norn, was born in Fort Resolution in 1876. He died October 27, 1952 or 1953. He was married to Julia Tapia of Hay River in 1902. Frank's mother, Julia; died November 28, 1963 Frank' s wife' s name was Mary or Marianne Tambour. She was born January 14, 1909 in Hay River. Her father's name was Jamie Tambour. Her mother's name was Marie Ettchedi. Frank was born January 27, 1904 in Hay River. Frank and Mary married in 1930. Frank thinks that his mother's mother had something to do with the fellow that started Hay River (Jean-Claire?)
Manuscript mentioned in interview: "Historical Sketch of the Origin[al?] Work of the Hay River Mission Great Slave Lake, N.W.T. 1893-1956." p,l ****Metis-Indian relations. "RAY: During the time that you've been in Hay River in the earlier days, there was no distinction made between those who were Indian or Metis? FRANK_: No nothing at all. RAY: When did you first notice a distinction? FRANK: ·Oh, just about 2 or 3 yrs back. RAY: You were always fully accepted as one of them? FRANK: Sure. JOANNE: Who do you think started that? FRANK: I couldn't tell you, I think it really started since the Land Claims started there, seems to be the Metis and the Treaty Indians arguing. That's
when it really started. They used to all mix together and I never heard anyone saying you're an Indian and you're a half-breed. Everybody was friendly so about 3 or 4 yrs back, since they started talking about the Land Claims maybe one Metis thinks he's better than a Treaty Indian and I think that's when it came up cause it just spread out, I don't know what your opinion is, Rick Hardy started it when he was President of the Metis Association. They seem to have trouble with the Metis and Treaty."

The file consists of a transcript of an oral history interview with Rosie Norwegian in Fort Norman (Tulita) on March 20, 1977. The interviewer was Joanne Overvold.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Rosie's grandfather, John Lennie, was born in Quebec City. His parents were born in Scotland and immigrated to Quebec City. John met his wife, an "Indian Chief's daughter of French and Indian [Cree?] parentage" in the late. 1800's. John was an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company and settled in the Milwausin District 40 miles west of Fort Edmonton in about 1895. The Lennie's had 5 boys and 3 girls: Dan, Bill, Albert, Andrew, Adolphus, Claira, Mary and Rosie: John died about 1918. Mrs. [John] Lennie died "in the early years." Rosie's father, Dan Lennie, came north about 1918. He married a woman in Fort Simpson and had 3 children (Dulph, Bella and Celine) but they all died. He came north to Fort Norman and married Adelle Menicho. They had 12 children: Alphonse (died), Johnny, Dulphus, Mary, Rosie (married name Norwegian), Alestine, Archie, Alfred, Morris (died), Phoebe, Joe, and Laura. Adelle (Menicho) Lennie died when Laura was born. [See Harriet Gladue interviews]. Adelle was 35 or 36 when she died. She was married at ·1-4 or 15. Dan Lennie died when he was 82 years old. He worked for the HBC first, then Northern Traders [Northern Trading Company] in Fort Norman. Spent most of his time in the bush, trapping. Rosie was born in 1922. Rosie's children included- Alvin, Rocky, Dougie, Mary, Irene. A book entitled "Hills of Hope," which was put out by the Hills of Hope Historical Committee in Spruce Grove, Alberta,·• contains a partial history of· the Lennie family.

The file consists of notes on an oral history interview with Sieg Phillip by Ray Price.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Notes are primarily on Sig Phillips and growing tomatoes in his greenhouse. He uses a unique heating
system for his home, motel and greenhouse. He uses the exhaust from his diesel generator. He owns a motel, handicraft shop, cocktail lounge, cafe and a greenhouse [in Fort Providence. Siegfried Philipp came to Canada from Germany in 1956.]

The file consists of an oral history interview with Eleanor McNeill and Henry Geisbrecht on January 14, 1977 in Fort Smith. The interviewers were Ray Price and Joanne Overvold.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Mother's name, Cayen. Father's name, Alexie Jeremy. Her paternal grandfather's last name was Gerald. There were 8 children in her family but she is the only one still alive. Eleanor was born in Fort Fitzgerald in 1902. She was married at the age of 18, on December 27, 1924, in Fort Smith.

The file consists of an oral history interview with Cliff Mabbitt & John Evans in January 1977 in Fort Smith. The interviewer was Joanne Overvold.
Interview notes from 1992 Index: Cliff was born in Manitoba in 1898. His father was· from England and his mother was from Scotland. They settled in Newdale in Saskatchewan in the 1800's. His mother died in 1904. Cliff had 5 brothers. Cliff married Ernestine (Babe) Tourangeau. They have 10 children. Cliff owned a restaurant for about a year in Fort Smith.

Please note that this interview contains an outdated and derogatory term historically used to refer to persons of Chinese ancestry.