National Historic Sites in the Mountain National Parks

Father Adrien Gabriel Morice, Person of National Historic Significance

Adrien Gabriel Morice was recognized as a Person of National Historic Significance in 1948. He was acknowledged for his work as a missionary and for creating a writing system for the Carrier language.

Missionary

Born in Mayenne Départment, France on the 27th of August, 1859, Morice had early visions of becoming a missionary and explorer in Northwestern Canada. Morice joined the Oblate Order in 1879 and left France shortly after, at the age of 21. He arrived in British Columbia in 1880 and began his career as a missionary in Williams Lake at St. Joseph's school. Here he studied Chilcotin and, with the aid of a student, began to study the Carrier language.

In 1882, Morice became an Ordained Priest and in 1885, relocated to the Stuart Lake Mission in Fort St. James. Morice brought the word of God to the Carrier Natives as well as fur traders, explorers, and other aboriginal groups from the area.

Interaction with the Natives

Morice continued his study of the Carrier language and rapidly became the only missionary to speak the language fluently. More than 10,000 natives in the region Simon Fraser named New Caledonia spoke a dialect of Athapaskan, the predominant Carrier language.

Fluent in the language, Morice created a written form for the popular language by adapting Cree syllabics. Morice was the first person to identify Athapaskan phonological distinctions and write it accurately. In his time at Stuart Lake, Morice devised a system of syllabics, a dictionary and grammar for the Carrier language. Further to this, he completed his missionary duties by translating the catechism, hymns and prayers into Athapaskan. He also published a bimonthly Carrier newspaper from 1891-1894 called the Dustl'us Nawhulnuk.

Relocation

In 1904, Father Morice was removed from Fort St. James by the bishop, due to complaints from the Hudson’s Bay Company and his inability to get along with other missionaries. Relocated to Winnipeg, Father Morice spent the remainder of his life as a scholar. He continued to write texts on the Carrier language, culture and general Athapaskan topics. He also wrote of the history of the Roman Catholic church in Western Canada, as well as the French and Metis of the West.

Louis-Billy Prince

Louis-Billy Prince, a descendant of Kw’eh, a great Carrier Chief, corresponded with Father Morice for many years after he left Fort St. James. Both men wrote in the Athapaskan syllabic, Prince responding to Morice’s questions on Carrier culture. The two men corresponded for years, until Prince was no longer able. After this time, his daughter, Lizette Hall, wrote as Prince spoke, transcribing his letters. Ms. Hall, unfortunately, was not familiar with the Athapaskan syllabic and so continued the letters in English.

The Evolution of Athapaskan

Father Morice’s written form of Athapaskan was popular until around 1920, when the Carrier language was banned from local schools. Written Carrier soon evolved into a non-standard form of the Latin alphabet, erasing the distinctions which Morice’s syllabic captured accurately. The transition was quick, exemplified in the loss of the Athapaskan syllabic between Louis-Billy Prince’s generation and his daughter’s.

In the 1960s, the Carrier Linguistic Committee in Fort St. James created a standardized form of the Latin alphabet to capture the language. This is now the more common form, although Morice’s Carrier syllabics is still often seen as more culturally authentic.

Fast Fact:

Morice River, Morice Lake, and Moricetown in northern BC were all named after Father Adrien Gabriel Morice.

Fast Fact:

The name, Carrier, was derived from a native custom in which a widow had to carry the ashes of her deceased husband in a basket for 3 years after his death.

Fast Fact:

Shortly after Father Morice introduced the Athapaskan syllabics, a lengthy message was written on the wall of the jail in Richfield outside of Barkerville, 80km East of Quesnel. This is the first known document written in the Carrier language.

Sources:

The Canadian Encyclopedia, Father Adrien Gabriel Maurice