Métis people (Canada)

Métis
Total population
	307,845; 1.04% of the Canadian population
Regions with significant populations
	Canada,; United States
Languages
	English, Métis French, Gaelic, Michif, Bungee
Religion
	Predominantly Roman Catholic, Protestant
Related ethnic groups
	French, Cree, Ojibwa, Acadians, Cajuns, Scots, English, Irish, Anglo-Métis

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The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway, Algonquin, Saulteaux, Menominee Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and other First Nations to Europeans,^[3] mainly French^{[citation needed]}, and are one of three officially recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada, the other two being the First Nations and Inuit. Commonly pronounced /ˈmeɪtiː/ "MAY-tee" or "may-TEE" in English ^[4], [meˈtsɪs] in Quebec French, [meˈtis] in Standard French,^[5] [mɪˈtʃɪf] in Michif, they are also historically known as Bois-Brûlés, mixed-bloods, Acadian, or Countryborn (Anglo-Métis). Their homeland consists of the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario, as well as the Northwest Territories. The Métis homeland also includes parts of the northern United States (specifically Montana, North Dakota, and northwest Minnesota).^[6]

Their history dates to the mid-seventeenth century. The Métis spoke or still speak either Métis French or a mixed language called Michif. Michif, Mechif or Métchif is a phonetic spelling of the Métis pronunciation of Métif, a variant of Métis. The Métis today predominantly speak English, with French a strong second language, as well as numerous Aboriginal tongues. Métis French is best preserved in Canada, Michif in the United States, notably in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation of North Dakota, where Michif is the official language of the Métis that reside on this Chippewa reservation. The encouragement and use of Métis French and Michif is growing due to outreach within the provincial Métis councils after at least a generation of decline.

The word Métis (the singular, plural and adjectival forms are the same) is French, and a cognate of the Spanish word mestizo. It carries the same connotation of "mixed race"; traced back far enough it stems from the Latin word mixtus, the past participle of the verb "to mix".

Over time, countless Métis are thought to have been absorbed and assimilated into the surrounding populations making Métis heritage (and thereby aboriginal ancestry) more common than sometimes realized.

[edit] Métis spirituality

A common misconception is that the Métis practised only the religion of their fathers (Catholicism or Protestantism).^{[citation needed]} However, the spiritual mixture of the Métis is in actuality as complex as the people who make up the nation.

Early on, Métis children absorbed the teachings of both their parents. Those teachings were made up of the father's religious background and the traditional teachings of the First Nation of the mother. Métis children thereby learned to live in both the Aboriginal and European worlds, encompassing both in their spirituality.

Today Métis practise many forms of religion, from mainline Christianity to New Age concepts and everything in between. From their Catholicism they have St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of Métis people. From their Aboriginal relatives, they incorporate the sweat lodge, medicine wheel, sacred pipe, and long house ceremonies, as well as many other Aboriginal spiritual beliefs. It is very rare to encounter a prayer and a smudge at the opening and closing of meetings of Métis people.

Many Métis peoples, as with other Aboriginal communities, have lost their spiritual connections to the past because of marginalization, poverty, and decimation of their communities and their way of life. However, in modern times, renewal of spirituality occurs among many Métis.

[edit] Métis Identity

[edit] Legal definition

There is substantial controversy and disagreement over who exactly is Métis. Unlike First Nations people, there is no distinction between status and non-status Métis. The legal definition itself is not yet fully developed. S.35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 makes mention of the Métis stating:like

35(1) The existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal people of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed.

(2) In this Act, "aboriginal peoples of Canada" includes the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.

However, s.35(2)does not provide a definition of who is Métis. Until R. v. Powley (2003), there was little development in such a definition. The case involved a claim by members of the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario community asserting Métis hunting rights. The Supreme Court of Canada outlined three broad factors to identify Métis rights-holders:^[7]

self-identification;

ancestral connection to a historic Métis community; and

community acceptance.

All three factors must be present for an individual to qualify under the legal definition of Métis, but there is still ambiguity. Questions about what constitutes a historic Métis community and what is sufficient proof of an ancestral connection (there is no blood quantum requirement) have not yet been answered by the courts.

[edit] Lower case 'm' métis versus upper case 'M' in Métis

The term Métis was originally used to refer to French- and Cree-speaking descendants of the French Catholic Red River Métis. Descendants of English or Scottish and natives were historically called 'half-breeds' or 'country born' and lived a more agrarian and Protestant lifestyle.^[8] However, the term eventually evolved to refer to all 'half-breeds', whether linked to the historic Red River Métis or not.

Lower case 'm' métis refers to those who are of mixed native and other ancestry, and is essentially an ethnic definition. Capital 'M' Métis refers to a particular sociocultural heritage and an ethnic self-identification that is not entirely racially based.^[9] Some argue that people who identify as métis should not be included in the definition of 'Métis'. In fact, not all such people might meet the legal test. Others have gone further and have suggested that only the descendants of the Red River Métis should be constitutionally recognized.^[10] However, the effect of this limitation would mean that people such as the Labrador Métis would be excluded from the legal definition and relegated to little 'm' métis status.

[edit] Prominent Métis

[edit] Historical individuals

Pierre Bottineau, Minnesota frontiersman, surveyor, diplomat and translator
Toussaint Charbonneau, husband of Sacagawea, and father of their son Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.
Louis Riel, who led the Red River Rebellion in 1869 and the North-West Rebellion in 1885.^[11]
Cuthbert Grant, Métis political and military leader
Gabriel Dumont, Métis military leader during the North-West Rebellion
Howard Adams, Métis activist, author and leader
Malcolm Norris, Métis politician and activist
James P. Brady, Métis politician and activist
Pierre Delorme, Métis politician and activist

[edit] Artists and writers

Métis writer and filmmaker Maria Campbell, born in northern Saskatchewan in 1940, brought the struggles of modern-day Métis and Aboriginal people to the public through her breakthrough book, Halfbreed (1973), and the collaborative play, Jessica (1982). She has captured the sound and song of traditional stories through her work in dialect, Stories of the Road Allowance People (1996).
Sandra Birdsell, daughter of a Métis man and a Russian Mennonite woman, based her award-winning novel Children of the Day in part on her parents' experiences in Manitoba in the 1920s–50s.
Alec Butler^[12]
George R. D. Goulet is a best-selling Métis author whose books include The Trial of Louis Riel: Justice and Mercy Denied, The Metis: Memorable Events and Memorable Personalities, and The Métis in British Columbia: From Fur Trade Outposts to Colony.
Ry Moran a Metis singer/songwriter/composer, is noted for his musical works dealing with Metis history, conflict and cultural rebirth. Ry has been nominated for a number of significant music awards alongside being recognized as a National Aboriginal Youth Role Model in 2008-2009.
Joseph Boyden is an award-winning Canadian author with Irish, Scottish and Metis roots. He won the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his second novel Through Black Spruce.

[edit] Politicians, activists, lawyers, and judges

Rod Bruinooge, a Métis is Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South (Conservative Party of Canada), he was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs & Northern Development and the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians from 2005 until the fall of 2008.
Todd Ducharme, a Métis, was appointed as a judge in 2004 of the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice.
Shelly Glover, a Métis is Member of Parliament for Saint-Boniface (Conservative Party of Canada). She is Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages.
Rabble.ca editor and Canadian anti-war movement leader Derrick O'Keefe is of partial Métis ancestry, and has Métis membership.
British Columbia New Democratic Party Leader Carole James is of partial Métis ancestry.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin is of Métis ancestry through his maternal line.
Colleen Klein, wife of former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, is of Métis ancestry.

[edit] Sportspeople

Sharon Bruneau, a female bodybuilder and fitness model
Kevin O'Toole, 1996 North American Light heavyweight bodybuilding champion.
NHL star defencemen Sheldon Souray and Wade Redden are of Métis ancestry.
MMA fighter Kalib Starnes is also a Métis.
NHL hockey player Rene Bourque, from Lac La Biche, Alberta, is also a Métis
Arron Asham, professional ice hockey player

[edit] Others

Architect Douglas Cardinal is of Métis and Blackfoot ancestry.
Actress Tantoo Cardinal is of Métis and Cree ancestry
Jon Gallant is bassist for the Canadian band Billy Talent.
Hypnotist Scott Ward is of Ojibway/Métis ancestry.
Actor Dakota House is of Cree/Métis ancestry.

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Metis

[edit] Notes

^ [1] Statistics Canada, Census 2001—Selected Ethnic Origins1, for Canada, Provinces and Territories—20% Sample Data
^ [2] (Statistics Canada, Census 2001—Selected Demographic and Cultural Characteristics (105), Selected Ethnic Groups (100), Age Groups (6), Sex (3) and Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) for Population, for Canada, Provinces, Territories and Census Metropolitan Areas 1 , 2001 Census—20% Sample Data)
^ Ethno-Cultural and Aboriginal Groups
^ http://www.othermetis.net/Wlcm.html The Other Métis
^ Petit Robert
^ Howard, James H. 1965. The Plains-Ojibwa or Bungi: hunters and warriors of the Northern Prairies with special reference to the Turtle Mountain band. University of South Dakota Museum Anthropology Papers 1 (Lincoln, Nebraska: J. and L. Reprint Co., Reprints in Anthropology 7, 1977).
^ (2003), 230 D.L.R. (4th) 1, 308 N.R. 201, 2003 SCC 43 [Powley]
^ . E. Foster, "The Metis: The People and the Term" (1978) 3 Prairie Forum 79 at 86-87.107
^ J. Brown, "Metis", Canadian Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1985) at 1124.
^ Paul L.A.H. Chartrand & John Giokas, "Defining 'the Métis People': The Hard Case of Canadian Aboriginal Law" in Paul L.A.H. Chartrand, ed., Who Are Canada's Aboriginal Peoples?: Recognition, Definition, and Jurisdiction, (Saskatoon: Purich, 2002) 268 at 294
^ Reasonable doubts may be raised about whether either of these events was a rebellion. For example, the actions considered rebellious in 1869 were undertaken by Riel as the leader of a government recognized by Canada as in legitimate control of territory that did not belong to Canada; Canada negotiated the Manitoba Act with this government. After these "rebellions", land speculators and other non-Métis effectively deprived the Métis of land by exploiting a government program for its purchase, with the government perhaps turning a blind eye. The province of Alberta distributed land to Métis in 1938 to correct what it believed to be an inequity, but Saskatchewan and Manitoba have not followed Alberta's lead.
^ Gloria Kim, "Why be just one sex?". Maclean's, September 8, 2005.

easternwoodlandmetisnation.ca/main.htm http://www.cactuscom.com/nationmetisquebec/quebecen.html

[edit] Further reading

Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion, and Audreen Hourie. Metis legacy Michif culture, heritage, and folkways. Metis legacy series, v. 2. Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2006. ISBN 0920915809
Barkwell, Lawrence J., Leah Dorion and Darren Prefontaine. Metis Legacy: A Historiography and Annotated Bibliography. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications Inc. and Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2001. ISBN 1-894717-03-1
Chartrand, Larry N., Tricia E. Logan, and Judy D. Daniels. Métis History and Experience and Residential Schools in Canada. Aboriginal Healing Foundation research series. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2006. ISBN 1897285299
Delaronde, Deborah L. Metis Spirits. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications, 2006. ISBN 1894717368
Douaud, Patrick C. The Western Métis Profile of a People. Canadian plains studies, 54. Regina: University of Regina, Canadian Plains Research Center, 2007. ISBN 9780889771994
Goulet, George R. D., and Terry Goulet. The Metis Memorable Events and Memorable Personalities. Calgary: FabJob, 2006. ISBN 1894638980
Jackson, John C. Children of the Fur Trade Forgotten Metis of the Pacific Northwest. Corvallis: Oregon State Univ Press, 2007. ISBN 0870711946
McNab, David, and Ute Lischke. The Long Journey of a Forgotten People Métis Identities and Family Histories. Waterloo, Ont: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2007. ISBN 9780889205239
National Aboriginal Health Organization. Métis Cookbook and Guide to Healthy Living. Ottawa, Ont: Métis Centre, National Aboriginal Health Organization, 2006. ISBN 0978078500
National Council of Welfare (Canada), and Michelle M. Mann. First Nations, Métis and Inuit Children and Youth Time to Act. National Council of Welfare reports, v. #127. Ottawa: National Council of Welfare, 2007. ISBN 9780662466406
Weinstein, John. Quiet Revolution West The Rebirth of Métis Nationalism. Calgary: Fifth House Publishers, 2007. ISBN 9781897252215

[edit] External links

[edit] Western Métis

[edit] Eastern Métis

[edit] Government of Canada

[edit] Other

A History of Aboriginal Treaties and Relations in Canada This site includes contextual materials, links to digitized primary sources and summaries of primary source documents.
Métis Museum (Gabriel Dumont Institute)
MiLan Metis Healing Art Project—MMHAP

[0] [1] Statistics Canada, Census 2001—Selected Ethnic Origins1, for Canada, Provinces and Territories—20% Sample Data

[1] [2] (Statistics Canada, Census 2001—Selected Demographic and Cultural Characteristics (105), Selected Ethnic Groups (100), Age Groups (6), Sex (3) and Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) for Population, for Canada, Provinces, Territories and Census Metropolitan Areas 1 , 2001 Census—20% Sample Data)

[2] Ethno-Cultural and Aboriginal Groups

[3] ttp://www.othermetis.net/Wlcm.html The Other Métis

[4] Petit Robert

[5] Howard, James H. 1965. The Plains-Ojibwa or Bungi: hunters and warriors of the Northern Prairies with special reference to the Turtle Mountain band. University of South Dakota Museum Anthropology Papers 1 (Lincoln, Nebraska: J. and L. Reprint Co., Reprints in Anthropology 7, 1977).

[6] (2003), 230 D.L.R. (4th) 1, 308 N.R. 201, 2003 SCC 43 [Powley]

[7] . E. Foster, "The Metis: The People and the Term" (1978) 3 Prairie Forum 79 at 86-87.107

[8] J. Brown, "Metis", Canadian Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1985) at 1124.

[9] Paul L.A.H. Chartrand & John Giokas, "Defining 'the Métis People': The Hard Case of Canadian Aboriginal Law" in Paul L.A.H. Chartrand, ed., Who Are Canada's Aboriginal Peoples?: Recognition, Definition, and Jurisdiction, (Saskatoon: Purich, 2002) 268 at 294

[10] Reasonable doubts may be raised about whether either of these events was a rebellion. For example, the actions considered rebellious in 1869 were undertaken by Riel as the leader of a government recognized by Canada as in legitimate control of territory that did not belong to Canada; Canada negotiated the Manitoba Act with this government. After these "rebellions", land speculators and other non-Métis effectively deprived the Métis of land by exploiting a government program for its purchase, with the government perhaps turning a blind eye. The province of Alberta distributed land to Métis in 1938 to correct what it believed to be an inequity, but Saskatchewan and Manitoba have not followed Alberta's lead.

[11] Gloria Kim, "Why be just one sex?". Maclean's, September 8, 2005.

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