Joe Cochrane. 1965. Interviewed by Margaret Stobie. IH-MS.026b/.023a, Margaret Stobie Fonds TC 24 (A1980-17). University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections. Transcribed by Joanne Greenwood for the Indian History Film Project, Canadian Plains Research Centre, University of Regina.
In the Fall of 1877 thirty families at Norway House (Treaty No. 5 territory, present-day Manitoba) boarded 3 York boats, 10 skiffs and 12 canoes, and rowed and paddled down Lake Winnipeg to their new home at Fisher River. The flotilla was led by Chief David Rundle and counsellors James Cochrane and Harry Koostatak. The people experienced unseasonably cold and windy weather and, were cramped in their boats with their supplies and dogs, for two weeks. Before turning into Fisher Bay the expedition stopped at Beren’s River on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg where they visited and were feasted and given gifts of supplies to help them build their new homes. Missionary John Semmens (Methodist) was present at the gathering and noted that there were a few deaths and births enroute. But no written documentation can be found, so far, that identifies those who died and were born. Neither did any specific information come to light during the interviews we did with Fisher River Elders in the early 1990s.
Searching for previously recorded oral histories I finally found a diamond in the rough in the Indian History Film Project Collection at the University of Regina. The collection includes over 700 audio recordings and close to 1,200 transcripts of interviews conducted with Indigenous peoples across Canada. There I found a transcribed interview of a Fisher River Elder named Joe Cochrane. Joe was interviewed by Margaret R. Stobie in 1965 as part of her Bungee Dialect (1965-1969) and North Studies (1965-1977) research projects. In 1978 Stobie donated 19 (7”) reels, 31 (3” reels) and 28 audio taped recordings and notes from these projects to the University of Manitoba where they are now housed in the Archives and Special Collections. In the early 1980s the Indian Film History Project transcribed the Stobie interviews and included them in their collection.
In this interview Joe answered general life history questions about how he made a living and his family. It contains a wealth of information about life at Fisher River, travelling with the Indian Agent during the winter and summer Treaty visits to different reserves, and how he made a living trapping, cutting cord wood, and raising cattle. The interviewer asked if he was born in Norway House and Joe replied “No, I wasn’t born in Norway House but we come from there. I was born on the way, you know, in 1877. I was born in 1877.” Further on in the interview he explains that his grandfather on his father’s side was Counsellor James Cochrane and his grandfather on his mother’s side was Chief David Rundle. From there I learned so much more about his life and times.
It may not seem like a big deal, but this little nugget of information tells us so much more about the people and community. Most importantly, it helps decolonize the historical narrative by countering the erasure of unnamed “Indians” in the historical records. “Baby born” was Joseph Cochrane who came from a loving family and lived a long and full life at Fisher River.
Winona Wheeler
Fisher River Cree Nation
Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies
University of Saskatchewan
Sources
Cochrane, Joe. 1965. Interviewed by Margaret Stobie. IH-MS.026b/.023a, Margaret Stobie Fonds TC 24 (A1980-17). University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections. Transcribed by Joanne Greenwood for the Indian History Film Project, Canadian Plains Research Centre, University of Regina. https://hdl.handle.net/10294/1920. Accessed 30 March 2009.
Goldsborough, Gordon. “Memorable Manitobans: Margaret Roseborough “Peg” Stobie (1909-1990).” Manitoba Historical Society Archives. Last revised: 27 June 2022. https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/stobie_mr.shtml. Accessed 28 May 2025.
Indian History Film Project, Canadian Plains Research Centre, University of Regina. https://hdl.handle.net/10294/26. Accessed 29 May 2025.
Nestor, Rob. “The SIFC-CPRC Indian Film History Collection: The Development of an Oral History Collection.” Oral History Forum d’histoire oral vol. 19-20 (1999-2000): 127-133.