Some of them actually tried to cross because they wanted to enlist so badly. For some reason, they wouldn't take them here, so they went to the American side to enlist. I've already heard many a time about their walking such great distances.
Some of them were lying in their application. They were only 16 and they tried to say they were 18 so they could go with their friends. I don't know if they knew about the horror and terror they were heading into, but they were willing to put their names forward as teenagers. Some of them got caught and were disallowed, but some of them did get in. I think Mr. Godon tried at 16 and got in at 17. He lied in his application about his age.
If you look at our people, you see some of them went to the United States. Just so you get a better grip on it, if you look at last names in the United States in Belcourt, North Dakota, and other places, you see they're our names. They're the last names of Métis people in Manitoba and the prairies. They're called the Chippewa tribe in the United States because they don't know of Métis recognition in the United States. If you go to their band offices, all you'll see is Métis artifacts everywhere. In fact, the first Michif dictionary, which is the language created by our people, comes from Belcourt, North Dakota. Some of us are actually Métis citizens but American civilians because we joined from that side, but they're our people.