Catherine Beaulieu Bouvier Lamoureux ( – 1918) was a

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

women living in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. She was a founder and leader of the local Métis community. The daughter of

François Beaulieu II François Beaulieu II (1771 – November 1872) was a chief of the Yellowknife tribe. He was an Arctic guide and interpreter who played an important role in exploration of the Northwest Territories of Canada. Guide and chief Beaulieu was a Metis, ...

and Louise (or Catherine) St. Germain, she was born in the Salt River region near Fort Smith. In 1845, she was baptized into the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and attended the

Grey Nuns The Sisters of Charity of Montreal, formerly called The Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général of Montreal and more commonly known as the Grey Nuns of Montreal, is a Canadian religious institute of Roman Catholic religious sisters, founde ...

school in

St. Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

. The Grey Nuns founded a hospital and school in

Fort Providence Fort Providence ( den, Zhahti Koe, Zhahti Kue, lit=mission house) is a hamlet in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Located west of Great Slave Lake, it has all-weather road connections by way of the Yellowknife Highway ...

in 1867 and she encouraged First Nations women to use their health care services. Beaulieu spoke several languages

Chipewyan The Chipewyan ( , also called ''Denésoliné'' or ''Dënesųłı̨né'' or ''Dënë Sųłınë́'', meaning "the original/real people") are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified ...

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

Michif Michif (also Mitchif, Mechif, Michif-Cree, Métif, Métchif, French Cree) is one of the languages of the Métis people of Canada and the United States, who are the descendants of First Nations (mainly Cree, Nakota Nakota (or Nakoda or Nakona) ...

and

Slavey The Slavey (also Slave and South Slavey) are a First Nations indigenous peoples of the Dene group, indigenous to the Great Slave Lake region, in Canada's Northwest Territories, and extending into northeastern British Columbia and northwestern ...

. She is believed to be the source of the

oral history recorded by Fathers

Émile Petitot Émile-Fortuné Petitot (also known as Émile-Fortuné-Stanislas-Joseph Petitot) (Inuk name, ''Mitchi Pitchitork Tchikraynarm iyoyé'', meaning "Mr. Petitot, son of the Sun") (December 3, 1838 – May 13, 1916), a French Missionary Oblate, was a n ...

and Grouard. She also helped to preserve oral tradition for her own people. She was married twice: first to Joseph Bouvier in 1852 - he died in 1877 - and then, in 1879, to Jean-Baptiste Lamoureux. She died at Fort Providence in 1918 after the death of her second husband earlier that year. During the winter, she often travelled the 150 miles between Fort Providence and Fort Rae; she also carried mail between the two communities. In 2012, she was declared a

Person of National Historic Significance Persons of National Historic Significance (National Historic People) are people designated by the Canadian government as being nationally significant in the history of the country. Designations are made by the Minister of the Environment on the re ...

by the Canadian government, the first woman in the Northwest Territories to receive that designation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaulieu Bouvier Lamoureux, Catherine 1820s births 1918 deaths Date of birth uncertain Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Date of death missing People from the Northwest Territories Canadian Métis people