LeRae Haynes
Special to the Tribune/Advisor
Great music and excellent food were accompanied by stellar fellowship at the Métis Jamboree at the McLeese Lake community hall this past weekend. Music filled the hall from morning to night: fiddle, guitar, bass, percussion, piano, ukulele, vocals and more.
Musicians from places across Canada gathered to provide toe-tapping, heart-warming entertainment, including Les Jerome from Calgary. On harmonica and guitar, he sang crowd-pleasing covers and originals alike.
It was his first time playing the Jamboree, although he’s wanted to for years. Local Métis members Wayne and Arnold Lucier and president Marlene Swears are his cousins and his friends.
“I grew up with them: my best friend Tuck is their younger brother. Our dads were best friends,” he said, adding that he was alone in the bush, so to have other kids to play with was a big deal and a lot of fun.
Jerome is an instructor on the faculty in social work at the University of Calgary. He keeps very busy teaching, reviewing textbooks and manuscripts, supervising grad and undergrad students and sitting on countless committees. Jerome came to the conclusion about four years ago that he was working at least 70 hours a week.
“Music is an escape for me and has been a saving grace for many years. I was traumatized very badly as a child and didn’t realize it for many years. I grew up a loner, and later became a very angry violent guy. I started drinking at about 11 years of age, and it got out of hand by the time I was 14,” he explained.
“I loved music early on — it has a spell to it. When I started playing guitar, it was like I could talk to people for the first time. I started writing my own songs, and it was therapy. The fact that other people seem to enjoy my music is kind of beside the point.
“Music took me away from the racism and violence and all that stuff.”
He said that as a kid growing up, there were people all around him playing guitar and singing. “I was kind of shy to ask someone to teach me and sent away for guitar instructions on the back of a Batman comic book. It advertised that you could learn to play guitar in seven days for $1.98,” he continued.
“It was the words and chords to 110 country and western songs. It got me going; I eventually met up with other guitar players and throughout my life we learned from each other.”
He said that the word ‘Métis’ showed up in the 1970s.
“There was a lot of controversy around it, and some people rebelled, as a result of internal shame. It wasn’t accepted instantly.
“People thought of Aboriginal people as drunks, as violent and on welfare,” he noted. “Some Métis internalized that and became very ashamed and angry about their native heritage. That’s the way I grew up.
“Pride in native heritage was a process — a social movement that took time.”
One of the things the Cariboo Chilcotin Métis Association jamborees are known for is their wonderful, inclusive atmosphere. “I have a theory about that,” he said.
“As a group of people who have been oppressed, we realized pain. As we heal, we naturally reach out and are encompassing and welcoming to others. People who have been through the fires are the people who are most understanding.
“This is natural, real and from the heart.”
Cariboo Chilcotin Métis Association president Marlene Swears said that in the past two years they have set two significant goals for the association. One was getting involved and supporting the larger community — being part of it and helping it grow.
“We lobbied to sell hot dogs, burgers and hot chocolate at various festivals, such as the winter carnival and the Street Party. We’ve gotten involved with various walks for awareness and a range of community events,” she explained.
“The other goal we set was to take our elders to Bathoche, the Métis festival in Saskatchewan, where the last Louis Riel rebellion took place in 1886.”
They have worked hard to raise funds for the trip and plan on taking elders there in 2019.
She said that having a warm, inclusive atmosphere at the jamboree is natural. “People feel included and welcomed because that’s how we want to feel,” she said. “It’s part of who we are.”
