PATRIARCHS

The Mountain Métis come from a mixed bloodline of Scottish, Iroquois, French and Sekanni. The documents provided indicate the travel routes of the main Iroquois forefathers, Louis Karakonti, Ignace Wanyandie and Ignace Karakonti who came out West with the Fur Trade during the early 1800s from primarily Kahnawake, Montreal.

They followed the customary fur trade routes, and when they reached the Athabasca Valley, the three Iroquois took wives of the Sekannaise tribe. Roaming the country, they did much of the early exploration of the lesser and greater slave lake; they have reported to have gone down the Mackenzie River and later traversed mountains and its passes. They were the guides for famous early explorers such as Alexander Mackenzie, David Thompson, Cheadle, Simon Fraser, Hector and Others.

We are in the process of researching and compiling the stories of these men and have completed some of the stories of these unsung heroes.