Note: In the primary sources its common to see the term Iroquois used, that's why you see it in the readings. "Called the Iroquois Confederacy by the French, and the League of Five Nations by the English, the confederacy is properly called the Haudenosaunee Confederacy meaning People of the long house." - Haudenosaunee Confederacy

 

The Victoria Voltigeurs were a mobile force of Metis police militia that were hand-picked by Governor James Douglas in 1851. The Voltigeurs lived in a village on Colquitz Creek near the junction with Swan Creek;  also refered to as “Potage Inlet.” The Voltigeurs were mostly French-Canadian voyageurs or “Half-Breeds” - Métis of French-Canadian and Iroquois descent - who were mobilized as circumstances required. 

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Born in Montreal, Quebec in 1800, Nicholas, also known as Joseph, in the HBC records, settled in Fort Simpson, by the Nass river, for 17 years. Many of the employees of Fort Simpson, officers and servants both, maintained close contact with each other after leaving the fort. Jollibois, Camille Raymond, Pierre Lagace, Nicholas Auger, and Joseph Maurice served as witnesses at each other's weddings and as godfathers to each other‟s children. Their friendships and kinship ties established while living and working at Fort Simpson lasted a lifetime.

 

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Definition of Métis according to Louis Riel

Louis Riel to Paul Proux, 1877 - It's a name that means[Métis]. Until now it has served to designate the race question of mixed bloods between Europeans and Natives, but is equally viable in its usage to designate a race of man, recruited from all types of mixtures of blood between them, and who, passing through the French-Canadian mold, retain their memory of their heritage and call themselves Métis. The label "Métis" is one most find agreeable, because it is not exclusive and it has the advantage of recognize, in the most convenient way possible, the contingent that derives from each nation to create this new group of people (SHSB 1877, 3).

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