Hello!
I am very interested in communicating with anyone who knows of direct tribal heritage associated with the surname of LaChapelle. Hopefully, you have direct knowledge of this, rather than pure oral tradition/rumors. Thanks!

I seem to have found Janot dit Lachapelles enrolled in a tribe of Iroquois or Akenabi near Trois-Riviers or Riviere-du-Loup, but I didn't make note of it because they weren't who I was looking for. I wish I had something more concrete to tell you; I'm sure my Janotte-Lachapelles were metis somewhere along the line, but I can't find proof.

Joann- Thanks for e-mailing me. I think the Janot-LaChapelle were Metis, but like you, I can't utterly prove it. Very frustrating because our ancestors tried very hard to bury that past out of shame. FYI: the tribe is actually "Abenakis" and they are on-line but they have limited range tribally. Keep in touch!

FYI: I also found some LaChapelles in Oklahoma, perhaps part of the Native relocation or "Trail of Tears" days. Might be worth looking into for clues. My great-grandmother, Malvina LaChapelle, hid and forgot her past. I think other family members/in-laws may have dismissed her as part "Savage."

Have you or anyone else reading this who may be interested...have you tried the metis scrip records at Collections Canada?

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/02010507_e.html

This is where I located scrip records on one other side of my family. Good luck!

http://www.ojibwe.info/ - go here. You'll find that name in the Martin and Bellecourt families from White Earth, MN. It is also a descendent of the Brisbois family of fur trading fame.

Yes i am a direct native american indian decendant of the lachapelle family from kaskaskia. My grand father is Chief Swift Bird or Alex LaChapelle grandson of Bazile Janot LaChapelle. I have extensive family records of my native history.I hold all the Tribal records i am the family historian. Please contact me at chiefswiftbird@embarqmail.com,or 106 west wind drive Vass, NC. 28394,

to Dano1759:

I know this is a much delayed reply to your inquiry, but yes, there is definitely Native American blood in at least some of the LaChapelle line, that starting with Pierre LaPointe's daughter Pelagie LaPointe, whose mother was a sister of Chief Wabasha (II)of the Mdewakanton Dakota tribe (this is the tribe which runs the Mystic Lake Casino near Minneapolis, MN). Pierre was one of the first French Canadian settlers in Prairie du Chien, WI. Pelagie married Antoine LaChapelle, this is where the native blood enters this particular LaChapelle family.

Eventually many of the LaChapelle family moved to Minnesota, in Wabasha and Little Falls. One of Pelagie's sons, Hercules, lived in the Wabasha area (see 1855 & 1860 census) and received payment from the US government for services in the army during the Sioux Uprising in 1862 and continuing in the army during the Civil War. His surviving children received money from the US government in 1891 as part of the "scouts and soldiers payroll" which was given to soldiers, or their suriving kin, if the soldier was at least part-blood member of one of only 4 Dakota clans: Sisseton, Wahpeton, Mdewakanton, or Wapakoota.

Please reply if you would like more information. I am not sure if this is part of the line of LaChapelle's you are investigating.

Regards,

Dave