Metis is a French word to mean “the Mixed.” The Métis are descendants of a French man who trapped animals in western Canada back in the 1600s. The French man married a native woman, and the Metis or the mixed people/generation was born 1 . It is speculated that the descendants of the French man intermarried and developed its unique kind of traditions, customs, foods, clothes, music, and language. Metis identity entails the way individual identify themselves as Metis, their history, beliefs, and practices. It is worth noting that the Métis identity is complex and its understanding greatly varies from a person and context to another.
The Métis were easily identified with the red Sash they wore, the jig dance style and the red river cart they commonly use for transport over centuries. The Métis had distinct clothing styles with a red cup or a colorful sash around their waist. The sash is said to have acted as a rope, towel, or bandage during an emergency. 2 Women wore ornaments made of creatively done beading patterns. The Métis also has great hunting skills and young Métis boys would hunt and kill buffalos without fear. The Metis language was unique and gave them a distinct identity and a deep sense of pride. However, the Métis were discriminated and experienced hardship in the twentieth century during Canada colonization.
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The Métis had created their own political identity by early 1800. They had occupied a vast part of the current Manitoba province of Canada while some had settled in the United States. Immediately after the Canada USA border was demarcated, the Métis in America were grouped with natives hence most lost their identity and considered as among those on the Indian reservation 3 (Fiola, 2015). Today in America, Metis is a racial characteristic for describing individuals from mixed ancestry. In Canada, the Metis experience hardship in coming out of the outdated stereotyped racial discrimination. The Canada federal policies discourage the Métis from claiming their indignity, defending their land as well as asserting their rights. Thus the Metis identity is at an awkward space of racial purity.
In 1982, the Canadian government decided to recognize the Metis as one of the aboriginal people in the country. The Metis received their cultural land use rights Inuit and as a first nation. They were also accorded the right to fishing and hunting just as their culture demands. The Canadian Métis have tax break rights as compared to other Canadians 4 . The Canadian government in 2017 decided to support the Metis in education needs, health, and housing as part of their effort to assist the Aboriginal people. While in the United States, despite being categorized as Indians, the Metis identity is being once again being relearned in terms of language, culture and history, festivals and events without seeking independent recognition.
The Metis identity today is not a fixed set of traits that identify with the original Metis individuals in the seventeenth century but are also influenced by the current legal and political definitions 5 . Canada and the United States have redefined the Metis identity to include racial descriptions. However, the Metis identity exists because of the ancestors’ strength to create and maintain some notable characteristics that will again be learned by those who lost their identity. The Métis identity is also defined by the people who live it but not the various organizations and entities that represent them. By carrying the identity among those who live it, the identity will be passed to many more generations to come.
Reference
Andersen, C. (2015). “Métis”: race, recognition, and the struggle for indigenous peoplehood . Vancouver: UBC Press, p. 12-15.
Ens, G. J., & Sawchuk, J. (2016). From new peoples to new nations aspects of Métis history and identity from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p.121-125.
Fiola, C. (2015). Rekindling the sacred fire: Métis ancestry and Anishinaabe spirituality . Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press, p. 32-35.
Vowel, C. (2016). Indigenous writes: a guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit issues in Canada . Winnipeg: HighWater Press, p. 43-47.
1 C. Andersen (2015). “Métis”: race, recognition, and the struggle for indigenous peoplehood . p. 12.
2 Vowel, C. (2016). Indigenous writes: a guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit issues in Canada . p. 43.
3 C.Fiola (2015). Rekindling the sacred fire: Métis ancestry and Anishinaabe spirituality . (2015). p. 32.
4 J. Ens & J. Sawchuk (2016). From new peoples to new nations aspects of Métis history and identity from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries .(2016) p.121
5 C. Andersen. (2015). “Métis”: race, recognition, and the struggle for indigenous peoplehood . (2015). p. 13.
