Tuesday, June 11, 2013

RONNIE BURD'S ANCESTORS


RONNIE BURD AND HIS DAD, WHO RECENTLY PASSED ON.

From Ronnie Burd in Canada (burd_ronnie@hotmail.com) comes this query.

“Thomas was my grandpa’s dad. My Aunties and Uncles are telling me that Grandpa was Cree but I believe Blackfeet. It says that he was there as a young child. I think then they migrated north perhaps following the buffalo and then he ended up on the Onion Lake Reserve in Sask.” 

See http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/onion_lake_first_nation.html  for an account of this band and the Frog Lake Massacre which is associated with them.  Their reserve is right on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan, fifty kilometers north of Lloydminster.

Thomas Burd is in the Blackfeet census Ronnie found and is listed as counted in 1894, then aged 29 in 1908, with a son born on July 6, 1908.  His wife’s name was Mary Monroe.  The following information comes from the book called “Blackfeet Heritage, 1907-1908” available online through http://blackfeetnationstore.com/store/

THOMAS BURD

1/4 Piegan- 1/4 Cree
His father was Phillip Burd, 1/2 Piegan, living at Duck Lake, Canada.  His mother was Mary Kipling Burd who was half Cree.  [Probably this couple might be described as Metis.]  Phillip’s parents were James Burd, white, and Sally Burd (Bird Woman), full Piegan.

Philip’s siblings were Annie, wife of Gambler No. 2; Thomas Burd; Susan, wife of Ear Rings; and Nancy, a sister who died leaving a child in Manitoba, and Charlotte De Roguier.  There was another sister, name unknown, who used to live on Cut Bank Creek.

Sally Burd had a previous husband, Mederick Deguire, a white man.  His parents were named Harry and Geneva Deguire but no sibs are known.  The children of that marriage were Thousan Deguire (35, living in Canada); Harry Deguire (32, half-Chippewa), and Joseph Deguire (30, living in Canada).

These notes:  Phillip Burd was married earlier to Mary Kipling.  She belonged in Canada.  He had seven or eight children by her.  Only one living.  Thomas Burd, on rolls, 27 years of age.

Phillip Burd and Louise were married at Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, 26 years ago by a priest.  Left him in summer of 1907.  Could not live happy with him.  Not divorced.

Harry DeGuire has lived on the reservation since December 1, 1889.  He came here to go to school.  Phillip Burd and Louise used to travel about from here to Canada and Harry was left here at school.  Phillip got into trouble with Agent Captain Cook and left in June of 1895 and he has not been back since.  He used to have a ticket and received issue.  Was enrolled in Browning as a Piegan.

Louise Burd was married to Phillip Burd 26 years ago about the 27th of December in Saskatchewan, Canada.  Lived on and off in Canada for 13 years.  Balance of the time in Montana on the northern part of the reservation.  One winter was spent at St. Peter’s Mission.  Louise left Phillip in June 1907.  Has been on the reserve ever since.

Phillip Burd is now in Calgary.  The children in school on the reservation.  First year at Mission, last two at Cut Bank School.

Back to Thomas Burd:

His half-brothers and half-sisters were Edward Burd; Frederick Burd; Julian Burd; Louise Burd; Mary, wife of James Monroe; Nellie, wife of Robert Wiggan.

Thomas married Mary Monroe on October 10, 1907.  (She was 22.)  Her father was Joe Monroe and her grandfather was John Monroe.  Her mother was Elizabeth Monroe and her father was Magnus Whitford.  Her sibs were Lizzie, Amelia, Jennie, Alice, Sarah, Hughey, Charles and Andrey -- all with the last name of Monroe.  

Mary Burd had a son born July 6, 1908.  (No name given.)

(Note:  One of the more colorful and ancient characters in the early 1960’s was Bird Earrings, who was married to the Princess Lexie, a white woman.  Bob Scriver performed the ceremony as a Justice of the Peace.  I have no idea if he was related to these Burd people or the Earrings mentioned.)
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Ronnie is a pipeline welder by trade and travels the world from his home in Canada.  He was anxious to uncover all this information before his father died of cancer but didn’t quite make it.  Nevertheless, he remains interested and would like to hear from relatives.  

A number of people and institutions try to accumulate genealogy about their families, but particularly Native American and aboriginal tribes try to find out information.  These last are particularly problematic because boundaries between tribes are blurry and mostly imposed by governments.  Since the issue of food and other supplies depended -- white man style -- on lists and tickets of entitlement, people tried to affiliate with the best sources or even with several sources, moving back and forth over the American/Canadian border.

My interest and advantage in investigating specific families is very limited.  But sometimes the people involved have descendants whom I know or at least knew in the Sixties.  A woman named Lily Monroe lived in this house a couple of owners before I bought it.  Monroe is a common name around here, but very possibly she was a relative of Ronnie’s.  That’s a pleasant thought.

Newcomers to ancestor search among the indigenous people sometimes get confused by things like what tribe they belonged to or whether they were Canadian or American, but one must picture that until quite a while after the first explorers and maps got to the West, things simply unfolded according to ecology, climate and luck -- on the prairie mostly following the buffalo.  No one wrote anything down -- indeed, few people could write at all!  And what would they do with it?  There was no postal service.  One simply handed a letter or packet to someone headed in the right direction and hoped the writing would survive the trip.  Even if they managed to get their letter onto a steamship going down the Missouri to “civilization” -- if you could call St. Louis in the early 1850’s that! -- it might be months before the boat got there.  The boats were notorious for burning up or sinking!  The whole excitement about the pony express was not just that it was fast, but that it was relatively sure to get letters to a place where they could be properly handled.

Anyway, if a Cree/Blackfeet married a Chippewa who was half-French, they were properly called “Metis” or mixed, and could be assigned anywhere or -- more likely -- no where.  The ones who “looked” more white often claimed that identity, while those who were darker or liked the old life better were more likely to affiliate with the indigenous side.  Many times the choice was probably made simply because someone had a favorite uncle or grandmother, regardless of what their pedigree might be.  Skill, kindness, generosity drew people together -- jealousy, bitterness, greed encouraged them to scatter.

The dynamics of all this tended to encourage secrecy in the interest of cloaking old pain and accusations, so family stories may not quite match what the records say.  But the records could also easily be wrong.  One must come to terms with a certain amount of ambiguity and just not knowing.  Maybe inheritable medical conditions mean a lot more than the color of skin or even a criminal record.  Or maybe some kind of tribal or government entitlement makes it worthwhile to frame up a case.  I think Ronnie just likes family.

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