MÉTIS - A Family Journey

the MÉTIS are the new people.

THE ORIGINAL FLOWER CHILDREN.

The Metis are a post-contact Indigenous People of the northern plains of North America who emerged between the 1600s-1700’s. They are the result of the intermarriage of fur traders of European descent and women of Indigenous descent in what is now called Canada. The Metis were a new people. They were not half and half, but more of a new group that developed their own customs and ways of seeing the world. They formed a complex web of kinship networks, cultural practices, and economic operations across the North-West, and more specifically the Red River Area. The Metis developed their own language, Michif, which is a mix of Cree and French. They had their own laws and customs. One such custom was the jig dance, which was central to the gregarious and playful heart of the Metis people. They were known to adorn their clothes heavily with floral beadwork.

When Manitoba was being colonized for the development of the nation-state of Canada, the Metis were seen as an uncooperative nuisance which needed to be extinguished. The Metis leader, Louis Riel fought for Metis to be included in the establishment of Canada, to have rights and be part of the new nation, but he was rejected. The battle for Metis sovereignty ended with the Red River Resistance (1869), and the subsequent execution of Louis Riel. After the leaders’ death, the Metis were forced into hiding. And so the Dark Years began. During this time, Metis people could be found living in the cracks of society. They were not relegated to reservations as other Indigenous groups were, so their experience was a bit different. They became known as the Road Allowance People, because they literally lived on the side walks. Métis Resistance was a whisper in the wind. It could be found in local pamphlets and newspapers telling stories of Riel and his vision. But it wasn’t until the mid to late 1900’s that Metis resurgence came out into the open. Resurgence and resistance occurred through activism, and making art that affirmed their existence and perspectives as Indigenous peoples.

Today, in 2023, there are about 600,000 Métis in Canada practicing resurgence by writing, telling stories, beading, and of course, jigging and fiddling their way into the future.

Originally published in the North West Folklife Festival Program & Guide

Written by Zoe Mix - Red River Métis

A MÉTIS LIFE IS A HAPPY ONE

A writer for one of New York's periodical publishers of the 1850s was sent on assignment to live among the Métis of the plains... He was to have said that - the Métis people claim to be the happiest people on earth, from what I’ve seen of their lives I can not dispute their claim. In addition they have no jails for they have no need of them, and each man is well armed and considers himself to be wise.

Métis don’t exist?

At least south of the Medicine line (the 49th parallel) the Métis don’t exist as an "officially" recognized people by the US government. Alternatively, just step across the border from the United States into Canada and we are constitutionally recognized with a Métis enrollment process available for Canadian Citizens. I know of Métis communities located here in Washington State, North Dakota and in Montana, however. with no recognized status or enrollment process the current Métis presence, and proud centuries long history and role in establishing relationships and family ties with the tribes across North America is lost to most US citizens.

Sacagawea

However if one looks under the surface of the continent defining exploration story of Lewis and Clark and the critical guide and interpreter services provided by Sacagawea, you will discover the presence of an infant that was born to Sacagawea and her French husband (Charbonneau) during the expedition. Interesting to note, the coin that was minted by the U.S. in 2000 to honor Sacagawea's "Indigenous" role in the great expedition, depicts both Sacagawea and her little baby "Metis" boy, Jean-Baptiste.

Northwest of Great Falls, Montana you find Hill 57. My friend Stan a Lakota Elder and his wife a Red River Métis Elder traveled to bring relief to the Métis residents of Hill 57. What he found was, in his words -

"Up on Hill 57 I found Métis people living in old wrecked cars and holes in the side of the hill without food and dressed in rags, and they had been living that way for generations... I thought we had it bad on our Pine Ridge reservation."

Stan - Lokota Ceremonial Elder, Korean War and Vietnam War Veteran

Stan was the first person who urged me to embrace my Métis family heritage to deepen my understanding of family, commitment to family, and the inherited "experience based" qualities and tendencies both positive and negative.

What do I mean by both positive and negative?

I’m saying that what we find in our family line may be painful for us to uncover, but knowledge is power as they say, and by knowing we can better understand the influences that have brought us into the present day. The worst thing that has happened to many of us is the white washing of our Métis story. Each generation another step into the oblivion that is assimilation into a white culture that has decided for us if we are Indian enough to be accepted as such, based on appearance or blood quantum. They say; So you are Mixed blood? Are you half? Are you just one quarter? Oh, your only an eighth? Well then your just white - family story and indigenous rooted values gone, meaningless, your wrong to hold on to what little you know about that indigenous ancestor who was married to a white person and committed enough (it’s possible they actually loved each other) to have children together. That sounds to me like a moment in time where so much of what is good and possible for us as human beings was born into this world as flesh and blood, the children, the Métis flowers of spring. So why is the mixing I speak of different than say Irish and English mixing, well in my opinion, its not different in that it is worthy of time and respect and recognized as an expansive and inclusive action with consequences that has profound implications for your family. But different in that the mixing of European and Indigenous blood is nothing short of blending into (becoming part of) the continuum of the ancient bloodlines of this continent. As the children born of these relationships, we are not settlers we are the new people and we have a role to play in the unfolding of our shared future. A role that is rooted in Indigeniety and expansive and inclusive in it's scope and potential to positively influence hearts and minds.

Red River Métis

My family is Red River Métis. This means my family is rooted in a people with family clans that identify with the land known as the Red River, an area around what is now Winnipeg in Southern Manitoba. I was literally born in the land of my Mother, Grandmother and Great Grandmother. Some of the Métis people from Red River believe we are the true Métis or at least Métis with a capital "M" due to the fact that we were the Métis family clans responsible for awakening and galvanizing the Métis identity into Nationhood during; the battle of seven oaks 1816 and again during the Riel lead Red River Resistance of 1869 and finally during the Riel lead Northwest Resistance of 1885.

I can understand the thinking and the feeling behind the claim that we are the true Métis, after all what would we have today if the Red River Métis (some of them my family members) hadn't put their lives on the line for Métis freedoms and the right to self government? On the other hand my family has Métis members from as far away as the Great Slave Lake located in the Northwest Territories of Canada. As a consequence, I'm more prone to believe the identity concept of Métis is far more inclusive and defined by indigenous blood connections, life style and values embodied in our family cultures. There is a saying that we Métis were raised in the ways of our mother. Which is to say that our ancestral fathers understood and respected the indigenous values embodied in the person of their wives and therefore the cornerstone on which to build identity, family, culture and a spirituality grounded in belonging... born of respect, consideration, mutual appreciation, and inclusion.

A SPECIAL MOMENT IN MÉTIS HISTORY - NELSON MANDELA HONORED

the day Nelson MANDELA BECAME AN HONORARY MÉTIS

Mandela became an honorary Métis during his visit to Ottawa on September 24, 1998, when he was presented with a Métis sash by the late Métis Senator John B. Boucher. Boucher had the privilege of wrapping the sash around Mandela’s waist and presenting Mandela with a honorary Métis name “Diamant”, which means Diamond in French. Mandela wore the sash proudly for the remainder of the day, even during his induction into the Order of Canada.