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 In tiny figures made of papier-mâché and recycled bits of leather, wire, fur, feathers and cloth, Clémentine Poitras created a graphic portrayal of pioneer life among the French-Canadian settlers in the Bonnyville area. So excellent are these small figures that they were part of a display at the national exhibition in 1967 in Ottawa during the Centennial Year. Today they are proudly exhibited at the Bonnyville and District Historical Museum.
Created between the 1920s and 1950, Miss Poitras’
miniatures are arranged into tiny scenes. There is a kitchen,
complete with tiny frying pans, clocks, lamps and a butter
churn. The old folks rest in the rocking chairs by the fire,
but everyone else is busy. A rolling pin and cookie pans
are set out in front of mother while a young man brings
in a large pile of wood. In another scene, a lone prospector
visits a native encampment. Cats, dogs, and Miss Poitras’
beloved butterflies are found in many scenes.
The work portrays a people who were energetic and happy, a people who valued friendship and conversation…. Take a close look at “Three Sets of Friends”. Not only are the two farmers engaged in conversation, but so too are the dogs, and even the horses visit over the fence.
The amazing detail in Miss Poitras’ work is composed of hundreds of meticulously crafted tiny pieces. Equally amazing is that the collection was maintained and cared for in the decades after she left Bonnyville.
 Miss
Poitras herself contributed in so small measure to the care
of the collection. In the late 1960s, two young doctors
and a dentist set up a practice in Bonnyville. Miss Poitras
donated the collection to the clinic on the understanding
that it should be displayed there. The doctors Bugeaud,
Brosseau and Haiden kept the collection intact and when
they sold the clinic to a pharmacist, G. Tellier, he too
kept the promise to display Miss Poitras’ beautiful
little figures until he donated them to the Bonnyville Museum.
Condensed from an article written by Mereline Griffith and Gwen Musselman
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