A Saskatchewan woman who worked to preserve and celebrate the Métis culture is being honoured by getting her likeness on a stamp.
Sophie McDougall is one of three people being honoured by Canada Post this month in its fourth set of stamps celebrating the lives and legacies of First Nations, Métis and Inuit leaders.
In a news release Thursday, Canada Post says McDougall is being recognized for her dedication to preserving and celebrating Métis culture and Michif, their traditional language.
She was born in St. Louis, Sask. in 1928, a descendant of the area’s original Métis settlers, who went on to spend years as a devoted schoolteacher.
“As a Métis woman, she experienced discrimination in teachers’ college but faced it with courage and determination,” Canada Post said in the release.
McDougall spent decades as an elder with the Prince Albert Métis Women’s Association.
As an elder, she translated books and other materials into Michif, and contributed to the development of the language app, Learn Michif French.
In her late 80s, she appeared in the YouTube series Métis Women Stories, sharing tales from her childhood in St. Louis and describes her family’s social, cultural and religious traditions, as she remembers them.
In one video, shot for the Métis Women’s Wellness Project with funds from the Canadian Institute for Health Research, she describes learning to pick traditional medicinal plants with her mother. You can watch a snippet of that in the player above or find the series here.
McDougall, the daughter of Robert James Boyer and Mary Leona McDougall, had 14 children of her own, and 35 grandchildren.
In 2023, she received the Order of Gabriel Dumont Gold Medal in recognition of her service to the Métis people.
She died in April of 2023 in Prince Albert. She was 94.
