In
1954, in Edmonton Alberta, Dale Rodney Haggerty was the
fifth child Born, to parents John Haggerty, a Scottish immigrant
and French Métis Mother, Georgina Villeneuve. The Haggerty’s
moved their growing family to B.C. when Dale was just an
infant and youngest at that time, his sister Teresa was
born later in Vancouver where the family lived and worked
most of their lives.
Dale
grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where he
went to school and later apprenticed and became a tradesman
in the Glazing Industry (Glass and windows). He worked
for many years as a Glazier while at the same time from
the age of 23 he took up the sport of Lawn bowling. During
the years in this sport as an amateur, he won many medals
and trophies, including Gold (1984), Silver (latest 2005)
and Bronze. In 1998 our champion decided to put the Lawn
bowling life behind him for a while as he was trying to
control an alcohol addiction which was destroying his
life as well as his liver. Through the help of Métis friends
and the Métis Community he has been clean and sober for
many years.
In
1999 Dale was given the opportunity to accept a position
of curator of the Michif Métis Museum that was being run
by the Michif Historical and Cultural Preservation Society.
He gladly accepted and hasn’t looked back since. He brought
a fresh approach to the little museum and found ways of
bringing exhibits and displays to various communities
and schools as well as presentations, giving people an
opportunity to learn more about the Métis culture and
their role in Canada’s history.
Today,
Dale lives happily with his wife (also Dale), both starting
a new life in the community of Vavenby, BC which is just
outside of the Clearwater District in BC’s Interior. Through
a very generous donation of a mini-bus from Métis Family
Services in Surrey, he plans to convert the Metis bus
into a mobile museum & will possibly be ready to roll
2008/2009 and bring the Michif Métis Museum to more communities
around BC, leaving a small display of the museum with
the Cultural Director, Derrick Whiteskycloud, on the Lower
Mainland, as well as partnership with an Alberta Métis
community, where a sister museum has been formed by a
newly formed Society in Delia, Alberta, & also working
together with the St. Albert Metis Museum in BC too.
As
President of the Society, Dale’s future hope and plans
for the museum is to continue sharing the Métis culture
as long as he is able and when he is ready to retire (which
won’t be for a while yet), the museum will be placed safely
in the hands of our future Métis generation who will continue
to bring and present the Métis culture and history to
all that would benefit and have an interest & now its
time to reach to even more of our Aboriginal brother s
& sisters across the world. Our very own internet talk
radio show called 'Metis Voices Radio' every Friday night
8pm pst on station 2 . Dale is looking forward to your
callins as he talks about Metis history and many other
Metis programming.
DONATIONS / PAYMENTS
|
| One
Time Payment - Thank You! |