ESTEVAN - Joanna Blondeau Potyondi, who is the president of Métis Nation Saskatchewan Local 15 in Melville and an elder, was at the Estevan Public Library Feb. 15, sharing her family history, pictures and some of her personal work.
The meeting was a part of the Aboriginal Storytelling Month at the library.
Blondeau Potyondi shared that she traces her roots back to one of the first Michif leaders, Cuthbert Grant, the hero of a crucible moment in the birth of the Métis people, the Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816.
According to her biography published by the Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture under the Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research,
Blondeau Potyondi, the daughter of James and Josephine Blondeau, who now resides in Melville, was born in Estevan in September 1939, two days after the Second World War started, and grew up at Taylorton. Her grandfather, Alfred Blondeau, ran a coal mine at Old Taylorton, northeast of Roche Percee.
Her father went overseas to fight in the Second World War, and Joanna moved to her grandparents, who were born in the midst of the Métis Resistance of the 1880s, and she was raised by them.
Her father was killed in 1961 in a construction accident at the age of 43.
She raised three children, two boys and a girl, and dedicated her life to helping others, advocating for Métis rights and promoting culture.
In the 70s Blondeau Potyondi moved to Melville and at about the same time she got into sewing. She took an upholstery course from Parkland Community College in 1978 and was teaching upholstery for over 20 years. She is well-known for her pieces like the Hudson Bay Company's (HBC) blanket coats called capotes, as well as distinctive vests and bags.
In 2010, several of the Métis participants of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver came with capotes made by Blondeau Potyondi.
She had some of her hand-made items on her during her visit to Estevan for demonstration.
"I make them for historical reasons, for the history of trappers. I was skinning beavers when I was seven years old with my grandfather," Blondeau Potyondi shared.
She also spoke about the meaning and value of L'assumption sash and Métis flags – local and national. The Métis flag was the first to be born in these lands, as all other flags used before originated in Europe. The Métis flag was unfurled in March 1916 at the Battle of Seven Oaks. The Northwest Trading Company gave it to the Métis in an attempt to keep them on their side in the ongoing battles over territory with the HBC.
The solid blue flag with a white infinity symbol on it was adopted by the people. The meaning of it was the joining of two cultures into a distinct nation of people forever, Blondeau Potyondi explained.
The Saskatchewan flag also has a buffalo as an honour to First Nations and a tiger lily on it.
Blondeau Potyondi has lived her life immersed in the rich heritage of Métis horse culture and has dedicated her life to sharing the stories and traditions of Saskatchewan's Qu'Appelle Valley with the generations that have followed.
In 2013 Blondeau Potyondi was named the Most Honorable Métis Woman by the Wiichihiwayshinawn Foundation for her efforts to preserve her heritage in a ceremony in Regina.
"Justice is very important to me. Our history is unbelievable, unjust all across Canada. And we're just finally now getting our rights, some of them," Blondeau Potyondi said.
Blondeau Potyondi now lives on a farm by Melville, raises horses, and continues to promote and advocate for Métis culture in all ways available.
The library also has Saskatchewan Aboriginal Stoytelling Take and Make kits available for pick up.
“If you haven’t signed up, stop by the library to pick up a kit and be sure to register for the live Zoom class on Feb. 22 (and to get more information on the event) fo to library website. If you can make it to the live event, you can also sign up to get a recording of the event,” the library said in Facebook post.
Since 2004, the the Library Services for Saskatchewan Aboriginal Peoples committee has co-ordinated Saskatchewan Aboriginal Storytelling Month. Through the month of February, storytelling events are held by libraries and their partners in communities throughout Saskatchewan.
This year southeast is hosting Dickie Yuzicapi of Sioux Chef Catering as he demonstrates how to prepare different traditional dishes using two types of dough.
