Objects have the power to create a concrete connection to our past - a connection we can hold in our hands. Each object in a family collection is connected to an ancestor and their story. It is these stories that ground us in who we are and where we come from; these stories that create our heritage and identity. The McTavish Collection is made up 159 objects and is housed at the Manitoba Museum. The collection belonged to a prominent fur trade family and has been passed down through five generations of women of mixed Indigenous/European decent. Eighty objects were pulled from the vaults and reunited as a single collection for closer study. An object biography was created using a combination of research techniques and perspectives to piece together a deeper understanding of the life of women of the fur trade era. Through these objects, a story emerged and shone a light on the women who made, collected and used these objects. This is a study of that process and those stories. / May 2017

In 1944, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) entered northern Saskatchewan with the goal of utilizing natural resources and restructuring the northern economy through conservation and social policy in order to rehabilitate what they viewed as an impoverished Aboriginal population. This thesis analyzes the affects of government policy on the northwestern Saskatchewan Metis during the mid-twentieth century. Specifically, this study will examine how CCF policy affected the trapping economy and the socio-cultural traditions of the northern Metis. The northwestern Saskatchewan Metis participated in trapping as one of their main sources of income, while facing deflating market prices and government intervention. Through an analysis of archival records that included government documents, government employee and northern Metis correspondence, newspapers, community and government research initiatives and transcribed interviews done by previous projects, this study found that the new government policies were met with resistance by Metis trappers who wished to maintain their traditional trapping practices. Trapping for the Metis, was not only a source of income, it was a livelihood inseparable from their socio-cultural identities and worldview. Therefore, Metis worldview had a direct connection to their acceptance and resistance of CCF policy. More specifically, the northwestern Saskatchewan Metis had a specific “work ethic.” In order to explain Metis reactions to CCF policy Max Weber’s theoretical framework of a “work ethic” derived from The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism was utilized. In this thesis it is posited that the Metis work ethic was based upon the concept of wahkootowin, which placed high value on kinship systems and reciprocity. Wahkootowin encompassed all aspects of northern Metis life including the economy. These cultural values were also juxtaposed with living a “northern style of life,” which involved hard work and survival skills that allowed the Metis to flourish within the northern landscape. In the mid-twentieth century CCF conservation and social policy conflicted with the northwestern Saskatchewan Metis work ethic that was based on the principles of wahkootowin and the northern style of life.

The question of the origins of a Metis identity in Canada is one that has been contemplated by several scholars. These scholars have taken various approaches to the question, many focusing solely on the social and political aspects of Metis history. While such approaches can be useful, they ignore the crucial influence of the economic and labour relations of the Rupertsland fur trade in the development and expression of a distinct Metis identity in western Canada. The unique economic and labour relations of the Rupertsland fur trade, identified by H. Clare Pentland as personal labour relationships, allowed a cohesiveness and inter-connectedness to develop between the Aboriginal labourers and their European employers which emphasized the interdependencies inherent in the industry. However, while personal labour relations were an important catalyst for the development and expression of a distinct Metis identity, it is too simplistic to suggest that it was these relations alone that encouraged such a phenomenon. The northern Australian cattle industry utilized similar economic and labour relations and yet a distinct mixed descent identity did not develop in Australia. Therefore, the external influences in the industry must also be examined. The four most important external influences that encouraged the development of a Metis identity in Canada and discouraged a similar event in Australia were: the needs of the colonial employers in regards to land tenure; the economic opportunities available to the people of mixed descent; the educational opportunities available to the people of mixed descent; and, the time depth of contact in both industries. These four external influences combined with the use of personal labour organization in the Rupertsland fur trade encouraged the development and expression of a distinct Metis identity in Canada.

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the constitutional right of the Métis to hunt in the Canadian legal consciousness in the four levels of court that heard the Powley case and comment on the judicial approach and observations. After a comparative analysis of the precedent setting Powley decision, a brief examination is undertaken of two recent cases regarding Métis rights in Canada: Laviolette and Willison. <p>Ultimately, the purpose of this research has been to show the treatment of Métis and First Nations Aboriginal rights have not been treated equally and to confront the challenges that this analysis raises. Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution has not provided the protections to Aboriginal rights that one would expect. In order to make changes to the legal system I have identified some fundamental problems with Aboriginal law in Canada associated with the identification of the source of those rights. <p>Further, I have made some suggestions on the approaches that could be taken to change the direction of the Supreme Court of Canada regarding its interpretations of Métis rights.

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the constitutional right of the Métis to hunt in the Canadian legal consciousness in the four levels of court that heard the Powley case and comment on the judicial approach and observations. After a comparative analysis of the precedent setting Powley decision, a brief examination is undertaken of two recent cases regarding Métis rights in Canada: Laviolette and Willison. <p>Ultimately, the purpose of this research has been to show the treatment of Métis and First Nations Aboriginal rights have not been treated equally and to confront the challenges that this analysis raises. Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution has not provided the protections to Aboriginal rights that one would expect. In order to make changes to the legal system I have identified some fundamental problems with Aboriginal law in Canada associated with the identification of the source of those rights. <p>Further, I have made some suggestions on the approaches that could be taken to change the direction of the Supreme Court of Canada regarding its interpretations of Métis rights.

The question of the origins of a Metis identity in Canada is one that has been contemplated by several scholars. These scholars have taken various approaches to the question, many focusing solely on the social and political aspects of Metis history. While such approaches can be useful, they ignore the crucial influence of the economic and labour relations of the Rupertsland fur trade in the development and expression of a distinct Metis identity in western Canada. The unique economic and labour relations of the Rupertsland fur trade, identified by H. Clare Pentland as personal labour relationships, allowed a cohesiveness and inter-connectedness to develop between the Aboriginal labourers and their European employers which emphasized the interdependencies inherent in the industry. However, while personal labour relations were an important catalyst for the development and expression of a distinct Metis identity, it is too simplistic to suggest that it was these relations alone that encouraged such a phenomenon. The northern Australian cattle industry utilized similar economic and labour relations and yet a distinct mixed descent identity did not develop in Australia. Therefore, the external influences in the industry must also be examined. The four most important external influences that encouraged the development of a Metis identity in Canada and discouraged a similar event in Australia were: the needs of the colonial employers in regards to land tenure; the economic opportunities available to the people of mixed descent; the educational opportunities available to the people of mixed descent; and, the time depth of contact in both industries. These four external influences combined with the use of personal labour organization in the Rupertsland fur trade encouraged the development and expression of a distinct Metis identity in Canada.

The question of the origins of a Metis identity in Canada is one that has been contemplated by several scholars. These scholars have taken various approaches to the question, many focusing solely on the social and political aspects of Metis history. While such approaches can be useful, they ignore the crucial influence of the economic and labour relations of the Rupertsland fur trade in the development and expression of a distinct Metis identity in western Canada. The unique economic and labour relations of the Rupertsland fur trade, identified by H. Clare Pentland as personal labour relationships, allowed a cohesiveness and inter-connectedness to develop between the Aboriginal labourers and their European employers which emphasized the interdependencies inherent in the industry. However, while personal labour relations were an important catalyst for the development and expression of a distinct Metis identity, it is too simplistic to suggest that it was these relations alone that encouraged such a phenomenon. The northern Australian cattle industry utilized similar economic and labour relations and yet a distinct mixed descent identity did not develop in Australia. Therefore, the external influences in the industry must also be examined. The four most important external influences that encouraged the development of a Metis identity in Canada and discouraged a similar event in Australia were: the needs of the colonial employers in regards to land tenure; the economic opportunities available to the people of mixed descent; the educational opportunities available to the people of mixed descent; and, the time depth of contact in both industries. These four external influences combined with the use of personal labour organization in the Rupertsland fur trade encouraged the development and expression of a distinct Metis identity in Canada.

This dissertation offers an analysis of the history of Métis political thought in the nineteenth century and its role in the anti-colonial resistances to Canada’s and Hudson’s Bay Company governance. Utilizing the Michif concepts of kaa-tipeyimishoyaahk and wahkohtowin to shed light on Métis political practices, this work argues that the Métis people had established themselves as an independent Indigenous people in the nineteenth century North West. By use of a common language of prairie diplomacy, Métis had situated themselves as a close “relation” of the Hudson’s Bay Company, but still politically independent of it. Nineteenth century Métis had repeatedly demonstrated their independence from British institutions of justice and politics, and were equally insistent that Canadian institutions had no authority over them. When they did choose to form a diplomatic relationship with Canada, it was decidedly on Métis terms. In 1869-1870, after repelling a Canadian official who was intended to establish Canadian authority over the North-West, the Métis formed a provisional government with their Halfbreed cousins to enter into negotiations with Canada to establish a confederal treaty relationship. The Provisional Government of Assiniboia then sent delegates to Ottawa to negotiate “the Manitoba Treaty,” a bilateral constitutional document that created a new province of Manitoba, that would contain a Métis/Halfbreed majority, as well as very specific territorial, political, social, cultural, and economic protections that would safeguard the Métis and Halfbreed controlled future of Manitoba. This agreement was embodied only partially in the oft-cited Manitoba Act, as several key elements of the agreement were oral negotiations that were later to be institutionalized by the Canadian cabinet, although were only ever partially implemented. These protections included restrictions on the sale of the 1.4 million acre Métis/Halfbreed land reserve, a commitment to establish a Métis/Halfbreed controlled upper-house in the new Manitoba legislature, a temporary limitation of the franchise to current residents of the North West, and restrictions on Canadian immigration to the new province until Métis lands were properly distributed. While these key components of the Manitoba Treaty were not included in the Manitoba Act, they remain a binding part of the agreement, and thus, an unfulfilled obligation borne by the contemporary government of Canada. Without adhering to Canada’s treaty with the Métis people, its presence on Métis lands, and jurisdiction over Métis people is highly suspect. Only by returning to the original agreement embodied by the Manitoba Act can Canada claim any legitimacy on Métis territories or any functional political relationship with the Métis people. / Graduate / 0740 / 0334 / adam.gaudry@usask.ca

There is a need to explore how Indigenous knowledge(s) relates to Anishinaabe ongoing resilience. I do this by telling the story of my home and privileging Anishinaabe Gikeedaasiwin, which means Anishinaabe knowledge. This study investigates socio-cultural knowledge(s) of the Lake Nipigon and Lake Superior region in Northern Ontario by using storytelling as a culturally specific research method. A multi-layered reflexivity approach combined with grounded theory act as the basis for a discussion of Anishinaabe ontology and epistemology. The sociology of knowledge provides the framework for critiques of modernist hegemonic knowledge. This study offers a nuanced view of Anishinaabe ways of knowing by considering Anishinaabe writers Patrick McGuire Sr. and Norval Morriseau. Arising from these stories are conceptual thematic understandings which included: The land and relationships to the land are foundational. Eshkakimikwe Giikeedaasiwin – Relational understandings and this is land based knowledge; The relationship between land, spirit and the Anishinaabe - Kiimiingona manda Giikeedaasiwin are part of the original instructions given to the Anishinaabe: There are multiple realities which are accessible by physical and spiritual means. Manidoo Waabiwin – seeing in a spirit way and Kiimiingona manda Giikeedaasiwin are part of the original instructions given to the Anishinaabe are evident; There are cycles of life and the land is sustaining to people. Muskiki Aki means medicine land which provides life; Anishinaabe values of responsibility and obligation are recognized. Gnawaaminjigewin is the responsibility to look, to see, to witness; There is a need to maintain and continue relationships in the world. Bzindamowin is learning by listening and the relational practice of a good life, Mino Bimaadiziwin; and Anishinaabe values relating to transformation, renewal, reciprocity and sharing to maintain life. Manitou Minjimendamowin means spirit memory, teachings on how to live life and Bzindamowin, that is learning by listening, is reflected. This study argued that exploring the survival and resurgence of Anishinaabe knowledge(s) can set different directions for the social renewal and transformation of Anishinaabe societies. This is an important understanding in any future development and social change, and especially resource development directly involving the land.

This paper describes a partitioning algorithm for real-world transportation networks incorporating previously unaccounted parameters like signalized traffic intersection, road segment length, traffic density, number of lanes and inter-partition communication overhead due to the migration of vehicles from one partition to another. We also describe our hypothetical framework for distributed simulation of the partitioned road network on SUMO, where a master controller is currently under development using TraCI APIs and MPI library to coordinate the parallel simulation and synchronization between the sub-networks generated by our proposed algorithm.