Jason Ovid Allard.
Image From Langley Centennial Museum and Archives.
Jason Ovid Allard was born in Fort Langley on September 8, 1848.[1] Jason’s father was Ovid Allard, a famous French-Canadian fur trader, and his mother was T’seeyiya, a Quw’utsun (Cowichan) woman, who was the sister of Chief T’shoshia.[2] Within First Nations societies descent was primarily traced through the mother, which resulted in Allard being a potential option for chieftainship of the Quw’utsun people.[3] With chieftainship being based on factors other than just ancestry, it would result in others than just Allard being potential options. Allard grew up in the fur trade society, surrounded by First Nations and Europeans. Allard lived in Fort Langley with his family until 1853, when they moved to Fort Victoria.[4] Growing up Allard was immersed in First Nations culture. His First Nations nurse would tell him tales of First Nations warfare and about the days before the fur trade.[5] He grew up understanding these tales and understood their historical value.[6]
[1] B.A. McKelvie, “Jason Allard: Fur-Trader, Prince, and Gentleman,” British Columbia Historical Quarterly IX, no. 4 (1945): 243.
[2] McKelvie, Jason Allard, 244; B.A. McKelvie, Fort Langley: Birthplace of British Columbia (Victoria: Porcépic Books Limited, 1991): 61.
[3] MSS 155: Jason Ovid Allard Scrapbook at Langley Centennial Museum and Archives.
[4] MSS 155, Langley Centennial Museum and Archives.
[5] MSS 155, Langley Centennial Museum and Archives.
[6] MSS 155, Langley Centennial Museum and Archives.
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