Métis is a French word that means mixed or mixture. In the Canadian context the word means persons of mixed Aboriginal and European heritage who identify themselves as Métis. The word métif or métchif is an old variant of the standard French word, Métis. In English the word Métis is pronounced "Maytee," and in French it is pronounced "Maytis," a form still in use by many Elders.

The Métis are one of three distinct Aboriginal peoples of Canada, recognized under the 1982 Constitution. Fiercely independent, the Métis were instrumental in the development of western Canada. But unlike the Indian and the Inuit, the historic role played by the Métis has not been acknowledged, nor have their inherent rights to land and self-government been respected by governments.

The Métis people were born from the marriages of Cree, Ojibwa and Salteaux women, and the French and Scottish fur traders, beginning in the mid-1600s. Scandinavian, Irish and English stock were added to the mix as western Canada was explored.

The Métis also developed a unique political and legal culture, with strong democratic traditions. The Métis had elected buffalo councils to organize buffalo hunts. By 1816, the Métis had challenged the Hudson Bay Company’s monopoly in the fur trade, and began to develop a national consciousness.

The Métis formed the majority of the population at the Red River Colony. Louis Riel's provisional government negotiated the entry of Manitoba into Canadian confederation in 1870. But federal promises of land in the Manitoba Act were not fulfilled. After ten years of delay, the government introduced the now-notorious scrip system. These certificates for land or money replaced direct land grants. Scrip was snapped up by speculators who followed the Scrip Commissions. Aware that the Métis were defrauded of their land, the government ignored the abuse and facilitated the business of the speculators.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 made the crown responsible for the well-being of aboriginal peoples and forbid the dismembering of their lands. But the federal government refused to acknowledge its responsibilities for the Métis, and their political rights as a sovereign people were not recognized.

As a consequence, the Métis suffered from racism and poverty. But the Métis continued to press their claims with Canada: to be recognized as a sovereign people, with their own culture and traditions, with inherent claims to land and self-government.

As early as 1887, a cultural and historical society to preserve the heritage of the Métis began in St. Vital, Manitoba. (L’Union Nationale Métisse St-Joseph du Manitoba) By the 1930s, associations to lobby for a land base were formed in Saskatchewan and Alberta.

In 1936, Alberta government granted 1,280,000 acres of land for Métis Settlements, a precedent that has allowed the contemporary Métis of Alberta to obtain limited control of housing, health, child welfare and legal institutions.

The 1960s saw the emergence of renewed political organizations. During the constitutional talks of 1989, the Métis were recognized as one of the three aboriginal peoples of Canada. Since then the Métis National Council has represented the Métis at negotiations with the federal and provincial and territorial governments.

In 1993 Métis National Council was restructured in preparation for self-government, with ministers in charge of women’s issues, culture, health and housing, hunting and fishing, the environment, and justice.

Currently the Métis National Council and its constituent associations are the main institutions for the political organization and representation of the Métis people. These bodies operate by democratic means through ballot box elections. The concept of self-government applies to the institutions already in place to represent the Métis people.

The Métis Homeland encompass parts of present-day Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

The Métis people often call their spoken language "Métif or Métchif", after themselves, and the Métis people of the Prairies have traditionally spoken a host of First Nation's languages as well as English and French. The Métis also have a long tradition of adapting aspects of First Nations and European culture to better suit their needs. Language is no exception. The languages most widely used by the Prairie Métis people were: Michif-French, (a dialect of Prairie French) Michif-Cree, (a distinct, unique and structured language consisting of Plains Cree, Saulteaux, and French components, with Cree usually used as verbs, and French usually used as nouns. as dominant components. ) Bungee (now an extinct language, consisting of Gaelic and Cree mixed with French and Saulteaux.)

Today, Michif is spoken by only a small percentage of the community and is currently being researched and preserved by Métis Nations across the Homeland in a bid to rescue an important part of our heritage.

In 1998, the Métis National Council received funding through Heritage Canada to begin work on the preservation of the Michif language.

Traditions of the Métis folk culture are fiddle playing, folk songs and tales, jigging, and crafts, such as beading, and the Métis Sash