Bio of Curator

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 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 almost eight years now.

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 bus to a mobile museum will possibly be ready
to roll 2007/2008 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. 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.