Monthly Archives: May 2016

Bruce Richard Dumont was born in Olds, Alberta in 1944 to his Mother, Cecile Marie Dumont (Vaness) from Onion Lake Saskatchewan, and father Joseph Ambrose Dumont, from Camrose, Alberta. Bruce is of Métis ancestry from parents, grandparents and great grandparents traced back to the 1700’s.

Mother –Cecile Marie Vaness of Cree and Scot ancestry

Born November 15, 1917 in Onion Lake, Saskatchewan to Daniel Vaness and Anna Dufresne. Mary Dumont’s grandfather Francois Dufresne and Bleasdale Cameron were captured by Wandering Spirit in April 1885 during the Metis Resistance prior to Battles at Duck Lake, Fish Creek and Batoche Saskatchewan. Wandering Spirit was a radical Chief of Big Bear’s Tribe.  Bleasdale Cameron wrote the book “Blood Red the Sun” a true factual account of the First Nations uprising prior to the Riel Resistance of 1885 Francois and Bleasdale were released in June after the Battle of Batoche.

Mary Dumont’s (Vaness) Grandfather Baptiste Annas hunted buffalo with Gabriel Dumont.

Father – Joseph Ambrose Dumont of Cree and French Ancestry

Born January 25, 1917 in Gwynne Alberta near Camrose, AB to St. Pierre Dumont and Marie Boudreau. Ambrose is a direct descendant of Isadore Dumont the first Métis killed at the Battle of Duck Lake. Gabriel Dumont was Isadore’s son.  Bruce is the fifth of ten children born to Ambrose and Mary Dumont. English was a second language to their native Cree tongue. They were a Metis Road Allowance family until the owner of the land they squatted on decided to burn them out.

Bruce is following the path of his family tradition, fighting for the betterment of Métis Peoples.

Bruce received his Grade School Education in Sundre, Alberta and completed his Secondary Education at  Northern and Southern Alberta Institutes of Technology (NAIT) and (SAIT) as a Red Seal Tradesman in Electronics. Bruce changed occupation to the BC Forest Industry and completed this career with the Workers Compensation Board of BC as a Professional Safety Officer. Bruce spent 9 years in the Electronics field, 20 years in the BC forest Industry as a supervisor on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, the Mainland Coast and Haida Gwaii. He spent 14 years inspecting Industry Worksites primarily Logging which was his expertise from 1992 to 2006.

As an active Métis Community Member serving his community for many years, Bruce ran for the position of Vice President for the Métis Nation British Columbia and won his election in 2004 where he served less than six (6) months before successfully winning the election for the position of President in 2005.  He is currently serving his third term in office as President of the Métis Nation British Columbia and is the longest reining President of Metis Nation BC.  He will be retiring in September of 2016.

In addition to his role and responsibilities as President, Bruce is the MNBC Minister of Natural Resources and sits as a Board of Governor at the national level for the Métis National Council as Minister for Culture, Heritage and Language and Minister for Health and Sport. Appointed in 2014, he also sits on two important Committees; BC Hydro – Strategic Aboriginal Engagement Committee / SAEC and an AEP Steward with the Northern Gateway Project / NGP as MNBC is an Aboriginal Equity Partner / AEP.

Bruce presently resides in Victoria, BC with his Wife Joanne; together they share 7 children (4 boys and 3 girls) and 12 grandchildren (3 girls and 9 boys) from ages 6 to 22.

BC has over 13,000 registered Métis Citizens and represents the majority of nearly 70,000 self-identified Métis people across the province of British Columbia.  MNBC is recognized by the Federal and Provincial Government and the Metis National Council as the only recognized provincial Métis governing organization of British Columbia.

Bruce BIO Mar 22 2016