Les Métis francophones ont été maîtres de leur territoire pendant moins de 100 ans. Leur nombre domine jusqu’à la Confédération, mais par la suite, ils subissent un recul. Mais, après la Confédération, ils ont connu un recul. Leur situation ne s’est améliorée qu’à la fin du XXe siècle. Aujourd’hui, les Métis francophones retrouvent leur place dans la société et à l’intérieur de la nation métisse, malgré leur statut de double minorité. Les défis ont été nombreux pour ces Métis. Dès le commencement, ils ont dû se battre contre des Indiens pour protéger leur territoire de chasse. Puis, ils ont fait face à un grand nombre de Blancs qui viennent coloniser l’Ouest. De plus, la Compagnie de la baie d’Hudson abuse de son pouvoir et cherche à monopoliser la traite des fourrures. Les Métis ont pu garder le libre-échange de la traite avec la Compagnie de la baie d’Hudson et les autres compagnies. Le clergé a souvent appuyé les Métis, mais quand les Blancs sont devenus plus nombreux, les Métis ont un peu été mis à l’écart. Le gouvernement canadien tente de prendre le contrôle du Manitoba en 1869, mais les Métis résistent et gagnent certains droits, pour les francophones, les Métis et les anglophones. Ces droits sont en partie ce qui aidera les Métis à sortir du Temps noir. Malgré cela, après leur défaite à Batoche et la mort de Louis Riel, les Métis sont contraints de cacher leur véritable identité pendant cent ans. En 1982, les Métis sont inclus dans la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982, ce qui provoque une nouvelle visibilité dans les recensements, qui continue encore aujourd’hui. L’étude de l’évolution démographique des Métis francophones n’est pas simple, mais il existe assez d’informations pour en tirer des conclusions. Grâce aux données de recensements et à des témoignages, nous avons suivi leur parcours démographique. De plus, en utilisant les sources historiques et les histoires personnelles des Métis, nous avons déterminé les facteurs qui ont influencé leur croissance ou leur décroissance démographique. Toutes ces données, étalées au fil du temps, nous ont permis de voir que la famille métisse, les Charrettes, ont connu trois origines différentes, ce qui explique aujourd’hui le nombre croissant de personnes qui se déclarent métisses pour la première fois.

Les Métis francophones ont été maîtres de leur territoire pendant moins de 100 ans. Leur nombre domine jusqu’à la Confédération, mais par la suite, ils subissent un recul. Mais, après la Confédération, ils ont connu un recul. Leur situation ne s’est améliorée qu’à la fin du XXe siècle. Aujourd’hui, les Métis francophones retrouvent leur place dans la société et à l’intérieur de la nation métisse, malgré leur statut de double minorité. Les défis ont été nombreux pour ces Métis. Dès le commencement, ils ont dû se battre contre des Indiens pour protéger leur territoire de chasse. Puis, ils ont fait face à un grand nombre de Blancs qui viennent coloniser l’Ouest. De plus, la Compagnie de la baie d’Hudson abuse de son pouvoir et cherche à monopoliser la traite des fourrures. Les Métis ont pu garder le libre-échange de la traite avec la Compagnie de la baie d’Hudson et les autres compagnies. Le clergé a souvent appuyé les Métis, mais quand les Blancs sont devenus plus nombreux, les Métis ont un peu été mis à l’écart. Le gouvernement canadien tente de prendre le contrôle du Manitoba en 1869, mais les Métis résistent et gagnent certains droits, pour les francophones, les Métis et les anglophones. Ces droits sont en partie ce qui aidera les Métis à sortir du Temps noir. Malgré cela, après leur défaite à Batoche et la mort de Louis Riel, les Métis sont contraints de cacher leur véritable identité pendant cent ans. En 1982, les Métis sont inclus dans la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982, ce qui provoque une nouvelle visibilité dans les recensements, qui continue encore aujourd’hui. L’étude de l’évolution démographique des Métis francophones n’est pas simple, mais il existe assez d’informations pour en tirer des conclusions. Grâce aux données de recensements et à des témoignages, nous avons suivi leur parcours démographique. De plus, en utilisant les sources historiques et les histoires personnelles des Métis, nous avons déterminé les facteurs qui ont influencé leur croissance ou leur décroissance démographique. Toutes ces données, étalées au fil du temps, nous ont permis de voir que la famille métisse, les Charrettes, ont connu trois origines différentes, ce qui explique aujourd’hui le nombre croissant de personnes qui se déclarent métisses pour la première fois.

In 2004, Métis Nation offices began to register and issue identification cards to Métis citizens who met certain criteria. While many Métis people did register, and are registering, there are many who have not, and will not. As a result, some question the validity of the registry because it is unclear how it can reflect an accurate picture of the culture when not all Métis are represented. Through in-depth, unstructured interviews, my reflexive ethnography traces the accounts of six Métis citizens in southern Saskatchewan. I explore their stories about their Métis-ness, and their experiences with the registry. I also explore my own experiences with the registry and my journey to un/discover my own Métis-ness. The findings are presented in a creative non-fiction essay. The conclusions suggest that identification cards cannot grant someone admission to a culture; rather, cultural identity requires time, effort, intent, active participation, and meaningful connection with others.

No description available.

In Canada today there exists a new form of segregation towards the Métis people, called the Powley points. Because of it, Métis are being forced to become a different version of themselves, counter to their own personal identity, thereby creating a new standard of identity for Métis, one that not all Métis are able to meet because of historical factors. What the research shows is an over representation of Western Métis politics regarding Métis identity and the formation of it. I therefore, propose a change to the current status quo regarding how Métis are defined and how they are expected to define themselves within this system. For this thesis I rely primarily on archival research and textual analysis, such as journal articles, census data, and published material from the Métis organizations, to establish the current situation in Métis politics as well as my position regarding these issues.

In Canada today there exists a new form of segregation towards the Métis people, called the Powley points. Because of it, Métis are being forced to become a different version of themselves, counter to their own personal identity, thereby creating a new standard of identity for Métis, one that not all Métis are able to meet because of historical factors. What the research shows is an over representation of Western Métis politics regarding Métis identity and the formation of it. I therefore, propose a change to the current status quo regarding how Métis are defined and how they are expected to define themselves within this system. For this thesis I rely primarily on archival research and textual analysis, such as journal articles, census data, and published material from the Métis organizations, to establish the current situation in Métis politics as well as my position regarding these issues.

In Canada today there exists a new form of segregation towards the Métis people, called the Powley points. Because of it, Métis are being forced to become a different version of themselves, counter to their own personal identity, thereby creating a new standard of identity for Métis, one that not all Métis are able to meet because of historical factors. What the research shows is an over representation of Western Métis politics regarding Métis identity and the formation of it. I therefore, propose a change to the current status quo regarding how Métis are defined and how they are expected to define themselves within this system. For this thesis I rely primarily on archival research and textual analysis, such as journal articles, census data, and published material from the Métis organizations, to establish the current situation in Métis politics as well as my position regarding these issues.

The purpose of this work is to center dance at the heart of Métis identity expressions, where reconnecting with who we are through dance is intimately grounded within an Indigenous understanding of restoring wellbeing. Exploring the experiences of four prominent Métis women allowed a space to celebrate the voice of dancers as they make sense of what it means to practice Métis dance within their lives. This research further focuses on the experiences of Métis dance as an understanding of Indigenous wellbeing. The lived experiences were collected and reviewed within an Indigenous research framework grounded in the Cree and Métis values of Mino-pimatisiwin (good life) and Wahkotowin (kinship) (Hart, 1999; Kelsey, 2008). Both concepts deeply inform the processes related to our reciprocal relationship to all things, living and non-living and further place emphasis on our shared responsibility to honour, respect and acknowledge Indigenous knowledge and its value to our communities. There were three findings that emerged from this study: Understanding Métis dance (1) as a restorative and relational praxis of self-knowing; 2) as intergenerational knowledge transfer; 3) as a site for growing cultural awareness and self esteem. The voices of the women celebrate Métis peoplehood through the restorative practice of dance and in doing so allow us to un-settle and re-center the notion of Métis identity and dispel the question of “authenticity” (Lawrence, 2003). These are our own personal stories to tell, and only we can rewrite them in a way that is beneficial and meaningful to us.

In Sparrow, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that ss. 35(1) is “a solemn commitment that must be given meaningful content” the objective of which is to ensure that Aboriginal rights “are taken seriously.” Despite such a clear directive from the highest court, in Manitoba Métis Federation v. Canada [2007], MacInnes J. of the Queen’s Bench of Manitoba seemed incapable of taking seriously the Aboriginal title of the Métis under s. 31 of the Manitoba Act, 1870, and in no way thought of its explicit recognition as ‘a solemn commitment that must be given meaningful content’. For his part, if Scott C.J. of the Manitoba Court of Appeal was able to find a ‘cognizable Aboriginal interest’ in the expression ‘Indian title’, and thereby recognize to some extent Métis Aboriginal rights, he seemed incapable of conceiving such interests as title. This thesis is basically an attempt to ‘take seriously’ the common law Aboriginal title of the Métis. In order to do so, it first looks at the treatment of the concept of Indian title and the Royal Proclamation, 1763, in the lower courts throughout the infamous St. Catharine’s Milling and Lumber case. Subsequently, the existing common law doctrines of inherent Métis rights, those of the derivative rights doctrine, the empty box doctrine and the distinct Aboriginal people doctrine are all found to be inadequate to the task of providing cogency to the ‘constitutional imperative’ that was evoked in Powley. A fourth doctrine is therefore proposed, that of a Métis Autochthonous or Indigenous rights doctrine. In light of this, it is argued that the recognition of the ‘Indian’ title in s. 31 was not a mere ‘political expediency’ but is rooted in the underlying constitutional principle of the protection of minorities. Furthermore, insofar as the ‘Indian’ title of the Métis is taken seriously, it can be seen as having been extinguished through the federal power over ‘lands reserved for Indians’ under ss. 91(24). The legal implication is that they were, in the logic of the times, basically enfranchised ‘Indians’. Finally, by applying the grid established in Sioui for determining the existence of a ‘treaty’, it is argued that s. 31 is a ‘treaty’ or land claims settlement within the meaning of s. 35.

In the late-nineteenth century, Métis families and communities resisted what they perceived to be the encroachment of non-Aboriginal newcomers into the West. Resistance gave way to open conflict at the Red River Settlement and later in north central Saskatchewan. Both attempts by the Métis to resist the imposition of the newcomers settlement agenda were not successful, and the next 100 years would bring challenges to Métis unity. The transmission of knowledge of a Métis past declined as parents and grandparents opted to encourage their children and youth to pass into the growing settler society in what would become Saskatchewan. As parents restricted the flow of Métis knowledge, missionaries who represented Christian churches collaborated to develop the first Northwest Territories Board of Education, the agent responsible for the first state-supported schools in what would become the province of Saskatchewan. These first schools included Métis students and helped to shift their loyalties away from their families and communities and toward the British state. However, many Métis children and youth remained on the margins of educational attainment. They were either unable to attend school, or their schools did not have the required infrastructure or relevant pedagogy and curriculum. In the years after World War II, the Government of Saskatchewan noticed the unequal access to and achievement of the Métis in its schools. The government attempted to bring Métis students in from the margins through infrastructural, pedagogical, and curricular adaptations to support their learning.<p> Scholars have unearthed voluminous evidence of missionary work in Canada and have researched and written about public schools. As well, several scholars have undertaken research projects on Status First Nations education in the twentieth century. However, less is known about Métis interactions with Christian missionaries and in the state-supported or publicly funded schools. In this dissertation, I examine the history of missions and public schools in what would become Saskatchewan, and I enumerate the foundations that the Métis considered important for their learning. I identify Métis children and youths reactions to Christian and public schools in Saskatchewan, but I argue that Métis families who knew of their heritages actively participated in Roman Catholic Church rituals and activities and preserved and protected their pasts. Although experiences with Christianity varied, those with strong family ties and ties to the land adjusted well to the expectations of Christian teachings and formal public education. Overall, I tell the story of Métis children and youth and their involvement in church and public schooling based on how they saw Christianity, education, and its role on their lands and in their families. And I explain how Métis learners negotiated Protestant and Roman Catholic teachings and influences with the pedagogy and curriculum of public schools.<p> Oral history forms a substantial portion of the sources for this history of Métis children and youth and church and public education. I approached the interviews as means to generate new data in collaboration with the people I interviewed. Consequently, I went into the interviews with a list of questions, but I strove to make these interviews conversational and allow for a two-way flow of knowledge. I started with contextual questions (i.e. date of birth, school attended, where family was from) and proceeded to probe further based on the responses I received from the person being interviewed and from previous interviews. As well, I drew from two oral history projects with tapes and transcripts available in the archives: the Saskatchewan Archives Boards Towards a New Past Oral History Project The Métis and the Provincial Archives of Manitobas Manitoba Métis Oral History Project. See appendices A and B for discussion of my oral history methodology and the utility of the aforementioned oral history projects for my own research.