The Metis way

Francis grew up in a loving caring family, but times were extremely rough as it was during the later 20's and the depression years of the 30's, at the age of 10 his father hired him out to local farmers to work in their fields and with their livestock. He learned how to farm and this was his fathers intentions for him, as they were not very big farmers having less than 80 acres while Francis was growing up to farm. William his father did however teach Francis the Metis ways - hunting - fishing - trapping and a few non traditional ways such as making moonshine and selling it. One story tells of how William would take the home brew and load it on a dog sled and send 8 year old Frank across the border to ND where he would unload the brew at his uncles place and pick up the money and bring it back, a few times the Canadian Mounties would chase him but they on their horses in deep snow were no match for a young kid on a dog sled.

In addition to some of the side businesses William did, there was always time to hunt and trap and most time illegally on government property but it fed the family and allowed them to purchase much needed equipment to farm the land they owned. Owning land for half breeds in the 20's and 30's was not something that was easy nor was being accepted into the "white" farming circle, as most of the Metis were used as farm hands in the area and were not taken serious as farmers, much like what young Francis did.

So began the training of young Francis in more than just the usual life of a Metis but rather a different direction which included the learning of agricultural ways to help in making life better for him and his family. Working long hours a day on different farms became the norm for Francis - sleeping mostly in barns, and eating nothing more than oatmeal three times a day while working 12 to 16 hours - the exact definition of child labour. Francis spoke only Mitchif a language born of Cree and French and Ojibwa the language of his mother Florence. This caused some problems when working for district farmers but Francis was quick to learn and catch on to English or even some of the other languages that mostly immigrant farmers to the area spoke, mostly Belgium but some French also.

Working at such a young age also allowed Francis to develop good work habits and discipline - a kind of sense of making sure that one could properly do the task and have pride in what one has done. His life at home during slow seasons taught him the Metis ways of gathering food, and hunting animals. It also help him in learning how to make what ever was needed from animal skins, or materials found in the forest to better their life at home.

A young 11 year old Francis