Late Michif language keeper honoured with new stamp
CBC
A woman from St. Louis, Sask., credited with sharing her knowledge of her Métis culture and Michif language with generations of students and community members over her life, is being featured on a new stamp.
According to Canada Post, Sophie McDougall translated books and other materials into Michif for 20 years while serving as an elder with the Prince Albert Métis Women's Association.
Michif is categorized as critically endangered by UNESCO.
McDougall, who died in 2023 at the age of 94, also worked with organizations in Prince Albert to document and teach the regional dialect of Michif French.
She appeared in the YouTube series Métis Women Stories in her late 80s — and later contributed to the creation of the Learn Michif French app.
In 2023, McDougall received the Order of Gabriel Dumont Gold Medal in recognition of her lifetime of service to the Métis of Canada.
"She was our storybook," said Angela Rancourt, a Métis educator and friend of McDougall's, in an interview with Canada Post Magazine. "She was a database of all our stories."
Recalling the period before the development of the app, Rancourt said they needed to find a way for families to be connected to the language.
"It was Sophie who said, 'Get it on the phone, get it on their phones!'" Rancourt said.
Another friend of McDougall's, Métis researcher and educator Cindy Gaudet, said McDougall was "our kinship archives."
"Everyone would go to Sophie if they needed to know something," Gaudet told Canada Post Magazine. "'Are these people related, how are we related, when did the church get moved, what was going on at that time, when was that event?'"
According to Canada Post, McDougall was a descendant of the original settlers of the St. Louis area, approximately 105 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.
Canada Post said the stamp features an illustration of McDougall based on a photo provided by her family. Photos of the St. Louis Parish, and the original St. Louis highway and railway bridge in her hometown, appear in the background.
On a commemorative envelope that is also available, the postmark features an illustration of an old schoolhouse bell, in recognition of McDougall's years as a teacher — and the postmark location is St. Louis.
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