Who Are The Métis People? – Metis Heritage Week

Every year from November 14-20th, we celebrate Métis Heritage Week in Canada.

The Metis played a vital part before Canada became a Country and in the creation of Canada. Today we dive into the Identity of the Métis people and who they are.

Also over the following week, we will dive into more learning about the Métis people and the history of the Métis People.

Identity – Who are The Métis People

In the 1600s the fur trade started in what is now Atlantic and Central Canada. This brought an emergence of European Settlement in the area which caused Indigenous Peoples and Europeans to work together. With the growing presence of Europeans, it caused relationships to start between the Europeans and Indigenous peoples.

These relationships between Indigenous and Europeans would bring about a whole new nation of mixed breeds between the two nations of Indigenous and European people.

Eventually the two Nations would procreate and create children with two breeds of Nations. This nation would become the Métis peoples.

Within the societies that were not Indigenous, they had two competing Ideas of what a Métis person is.

Two Competing Ideas of What Métis People Are:

1. métis – When spelling métis with a lower “m” it referred to Métis as individuals or people having mixed-raced parents and ancestries. e.g. North American Indigenous and European/Euro-Canadian/Euro-American. It is a racial categorization of what makes a Métis person Métis.

The oldest meaning of Métis is based on a french verb – Métisser – mix races or ethnicities. Another version of this word is Métissage which is the act of race-mixing.

2. Métis – The second meaning of being Métis is spelled with a higher case “M”. This is the one embraced by the Métis Nation. This meaning is to self-Identify as Métis with a distinct language, culture, history in a specific region. (Western Canada Prairies, British Columbia, Ontario, North Dakota, Montana, and North West Territories).

The second meaning also comes with a political-cultural definition of Métis identity. It recognizes being Métis is not just about the ancestors that you have but relates that their ancestors made political decisions to identify as Métis based on shared histories and culture.

Métis have roots in the Red River Settlements or in fur trade communities in the Northern Reaches of the Prairie provinces; they received land grants or scrip to address their Aboriginal title; and they were recognized as a distinct Indigenous Nation by other Indigenous nations.

Métis are tied to their ancestors by living in traditional Métis lands, self Identifying as Métis, practicing their ways and culture, speaking Michif and other languages.

Métis Lobbying Groups for Métis Nation

The Native Council of Canada formed in 1971, was the first early lobbying group to represent Métis and be a voice for the nation. In the 1980s the Métis left the organization to form the Métis National Council in 1983 or the MNC.

The MNC represents four of the western provinces as well as Ontario. The lobbying group represents the big “M” in the identity of Métis and fights for Métis rights.

Stay tune as this week we dive more into the Métis Nation and learning more about their distinct Culture, Heritage, and History.