Stories of the Road Allowance People

David R. Hutchinson is an educator on the Peguis Reserve in Manitoba.

A few years ago, I interviewed some Métis veterans in Saskatchewan for
a Gabriel Dumont Institute publication. When it became time to
transcribe the tapes, I wanted the speaker’s dialect kept intact out
of respect for that individual’s unique character and equally unique
perspective as a veteran of Métis ancestry. Although I left the Dumont
Institute prior to the completion of the project, I found in Maria
Campbell’s Stories of the Road Allowance People a confirmation of the
power of Métis mythology and biography that has been phonetically
translated into the English dialect of Métis elders. At the time of the
veteran interviews, I learned that the dialect was as much a reflection
of the historical development of the Métis as were the stories
themselves. It is clear that Maria Campbell also understood that
filtering the stories through standard English, would corrupt the
elders’ voices and denigrate their cultural quality and purpose.

The stories are a wonderful read, and the supporting illustrations by
renowned artist Sherry Farrell Racette alone are worth the purchase of
the book. As contemporary Métis literature goes, this is certainly a
unique text and a must for anyone interested in learning (or teaching)
about Métis narrative, culture, language, and history.