Late Michif language keeper honoured with new stamp

2 week_ago 9

Saskatchewan

Michif connection keeper and Métis Elder Sophie McDougall from St. Louis, Sask., is being commemorated with a caller stamp.

Sophie McDougall credited with sharing civilization and connection with generations of students

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 20, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

A stamp with a drafting  of an older pistillate   connected  it. The pistillate   has glasses, brown-grey permed hair, and is wearing red, including a Metis sash. Drawings of a religion  and a span  look  successful  the background.

The Canada Post stamp honouring the precocious Sophie McDougall features an illustration of her based connected a photograph provided by her family. In the inheritance are photos of the St. Louis Parish and the archetypal St. Louis road and railway span successful her hometown of St. Louis, Sask. (Canada Post)

A pistillate from St. Louis, Sask., credited with sharing her cognition of her Métis civilization and Michif connection with generations of students and assemblage members implicit her life, is being featured connected a caller stamp.

According to Canada Post, Sophie McDougall translated books and different materials into Michif for 20 years portion serving arsenic an elder with the Prince Albert Métis Women's Association.

Michif is categorized arsenic critically endangered by UNESCO.

McDougall, who died successful 2023 astatine the property of 94, besides worked with organizations successful Prince Albert to papers and thatch the determination dialect of Michif French.

She appeared successful the YouTube series Métis Women Stories in her precocious 80s — and aboriginal contributed to the instauration of the Learn Michif French app.

In 2023, McDougall received the Order of Gabriel Dumont Gold Medal successful designation of her beingness of work to the Métis of Canada.

"She was our storybook," said Angela Rancourt, a Métis pedagogue and person of McDougall's, successful an interrogation with Canada Post Magazine. "She was a database of each our stories."

Recalling the play earlier the improvement of the app, Rancourt said they needed to find a mode for families to beryllium connected to the language.

"It was Sophie who said, 'Get it connected the phone, get it connected their phones!'" Rancourt said.

Another person of McDougall's, Métis researcher and educator Cindy Gaudet, said McDougall was "our kinship archives."

"Everyone would spell to Sophie if they needed to cognize something," Gaudet told Canada Post Magazine. "'Are these radical related, however are we related, erstwhile did the religion get moved, what was going connected astatine that time, erstwhile was that event?'"

According to Canada Post, McDougall was a descendant of the archetypal settlers of the St. Louis area, astir 105 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

Canada Post said the stamp features an illustration of McDougall based connected a photograph provided by her family. Photos of the St. Louis Parish, and the archetypal St. Louis road and railway span successful her hometown, look successful the background.

On a commemorative envelope that is besides available, the postmark features an illustration of an aged schoolhouse bell, successful designation of McDougall's years arsenic a teacher — and the postmark determination is St. Louis.

Thirteen household  members, immoderate   wearing Metis sashes, basal   connected  a signifier    adjacent  to an enlarged representation  of a stamp. The stamp features a representation    of an aged  pistillate   dressed successful  red, wearing glasses, with images of a religion  and span  successful  the background.

Family members of Sophie McDougall were contiguous for Canada Post's unveiling of a stamp successful McDougall's honour astatine an lawsuit successful Prince Albert connected Tuesday. (Canada Post)

Canada Post said its Indigenous Leaders series, launched successful 2022, highlights the contributions of Inuit, Métis and First Nations leaders who dedicated their lives to preserving their civilization and improving the prime of beingness of Indigenous peoples successful Canada.

It said this stamp is 1 of 3 Indigenous Leaders stamps that volition beryllium issued successful clip for this year's National Indigenous Peoples Day, which is this Saturday. The acceptable is the 4th successful Canada Post's multi-year Indigenous Leaders series.

Last Friday, the stamp honouring Julia Haogak Ogina was celebrated successful Ulukhaktok, N.W.T. On Thursday, the stamp recognizing Bruce Starlight was celebrated successful Tsuut'ina Nation, Alta.

Bronwyn Graves, Canada Post's manager of stamp services, said it was the Métis National Council that suggested McDougall beryllium honoured.

"If you instrumentality a look astatine each of the honourees successful this year's stamp series, there's a existent absorption connected connection preservation," Graves said.

Graves said Canada Post recognizes however important it is to Indigenous communities to sphere their connection arsenic a means of preserving their stories and their accepted teachings.

Canada Post hears from Canadians each the clip who accidental they probe idiosyncratic featured connected commemorative stamps if they aren't acquainted with them, she said.

Graves said that erstwhile the Donald Sutherland stamp came retired successful 2023, astir radical knew who helium was, but determination were a fewer who didn't, adding that possibly younger generations learned astir the precocious histrion done that stamp.

"Likewise, possibly radical who are from precise antithetic communities, oregon who don't cognize their Indigenous past rather arsenic well, whitethorn larn a small spot of thing done these stamps astir not conscionable Sophie's beingness and contributions, but besides the Métis assemblage arsenic a whole," Graves said.

The caller stamps and collectibles volition beryllium disposable astatine canadapost.ca and prime postal outlets crossed Canada, starting connected Friday.

read-entire-article