Contemporary Métis
The telling of Belle’s story is an important step in the Lougheed House Conservation Society’s journey on the path of truth and reconciliation.
It is a familiar story, a quintessentially Canadian story, but upon close inspection, it also reveals the complexity of early Canadian society, the fur trade, European colonization, Indigenous history and how all of these factors intertwined and influenced personal and national identities.
The exhibit, Conflicting Loyalties, has been created to inspire meaningful conversations about what it means to be Métis, what it means to be part of a colonial system, and what it means to be Canadian. Belle’s story is just one example of how Métis women managed to navigate such complexities and how they survived the competing narratives of their time.