Metis

The Block

This complex, three-dimensional voyageur canoe, filled with trading goods, is the work of Reverend Kathryn Gorman-Lovelady, an Elder of the Métis Council. It pays tribute to well over 300,000 Métis across Canada. The muslin-backed block is a blend of textures, talents and skills, like the Métis themselves. Wooden paddles, hand-carved by Robert Newell, accompany the canoe (representing the coureurs de bois), which is made of quilted, birchbark-patterned fabric imported from England. It is laden with traditional trading goods: barrels of colourful beads, fur pelts and bolts of cloth. The hand-made, miniature strung fiddle reflects the Métis’ love of music and proficiency as fiddle players. Framing the vignette, a miniature, multi-coloured sash, woven by Daphne Howells, incorporates blue for the Hudson Bay Métis and red for the Red River Métis.

Cultural Profile

The Métis trace their origin back to the days of Canada’s expanding fur trade. The offspring of European traders and predominantly Cree and Ojibwe women, their name comes from the Latin “miscere,” to mix. Those who identify as Métis can be found in every province, but most live in Western Canada. As a group they share a culture unique from other First Nations people and Europeans. Under the Canadian constitution they are defined as “aboriginal people of Canada,” along with Native and Inuit peoples. Their own definition, as stated in the 1979 Declaration of Métis Rights, asserts their belief that the Métis are “the true spirit of Canada and … the source of Canadian identity.”

Many Métis played a major role in the fur trade as coureurs de bois (wood runners) earning their livelihood trading pelts, bolts of cloth and beads. The Dakota called them “flower beadwork people,” because they introduced trade beads to First Nations people and were admired for their beautiful designs.

One of the most significant and controversial events in Canadian history involved the Métis in the Northwest Rebellion. In response to government abuses and violation of their land rights, Louis Riel led the Métis in the 1885 uprising. The rebellion was quelled, and Louis Riel, along with eight others, was hung for treason. To this day, Métis everywhere consider Louis Riel a hero.

Some Métis still speak their traditional languages of Michif (a blend of French and Cree) and Ojib-Cree. The Métis are wonderful fiddle players and clog dancers, particularly those of Celtic and French ancestry. The Red River Jig is perhaps the most renowned and beloved of their lively tunes. Distinctive clothing and identifiers are hard to pinpoint but a brightly coloured sash is often worn as an outward expression of Métis pride. Physically, most are lighter-skinned than other indigenous people owing to their English, Scottish, French, Irish, German, Scandinavian or other European ancestry. It has been estimated that 40 percent of French-Canadians can claim at least one native forebear, as can Dr. Norman Bethune, hockey player Brian Trottier and former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed.

Sponsor: RéJeanne Saumure DesRosiers, in memoriam Jean-Paul Saumure