The Genealogy of the First Metis Nation

The Genealogy of the First Metis Nation
Author: Douglas N. Sprague
Publisher:
Total Pages: 302
Release: 1983
Genre: History
ISBN:

Contains 100 page introduction outlining the development of the Red River Metis and their dispersal in what is now Saskatchewan, Alberta and the NWT. Also contains 300 pages of tabular material related to marriage units, employment records, personal and real property in 1835 and 1870, as well as geographical location of Red River residences of whatever ancestry.

Canada and the Métis, 1869-1885

Canada and the Métis, 1869-1885
Author: D.N. Sprague
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2009-08-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1554587913

“In this book, Professor D.N. Sprague tells why the Métis did not receive the land that was supposed to be theirs under the Manitoba Act.... Sprague offers many examples of the methods used, such as legislation justifying the sale of the land allotted to Métis children without any of the safeguards ordinarily required in connection with transactions with infants. Then there were powers of attorny, tax sales—any number of stratgems could be used, and were—to see that the land intended for the Métis and their families went to others. All branches of the government participated. It is a shameful tale, but one that must be told.” — from the foreword by Thomas R. Berger

The People who Own Themselves

The People who Own Themselves
Author: Heather Devine
Publisher: University of Calgary Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 1552381153

With a unique how-to appendix for Metis genealogical reconstruction, this book will be of interest to Metis wanting to research their own genealogy and to scholars engaged in the reconstruction of Metis ethnic identity. The search for a Metis identity and what constitutes that identity is a key issue facing many aboriginals of mixed ancestry today. This book reconstructs 250 years of the Desjarlais' family history across a substantial area of North America, from colonial Louisiana, the St. Louis, Missouri, region and the American Southwest to the Red River and central Alberta. In the course of tracing the Desjarlais family, social, economic and political factors influencing the development of various Aboriginal ethnic identities are discussed. With intriguing details about the Desjarlais family members, this book offers new, original insights into the 1885 Northwest Rebellion, focusing on kinship as a motivating factor in the outcome of events.

Distorted Descent

Distorted Descent
Author: Darryl Leroux
Publisher: Univ. of Manitoba Press
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2019-09-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 0887555942

Distorted Descent examines a social phenomenon that has taken off in the twenty-first century: otherwise white, French descendant settlers in Canada shifting into a self-defined “Indigenous” identity. This study is not about individuals who have been dispossessed by colonial policies, or the multi-generational efforts to reconnect that occur in response. Rather, it is about white, French-descendant people discovering an Indigenous ancestor born 300 to 375 years ago through genealogy and using that ancestor as the sole basis for an eventual shift into an “Indigenous” identity today. After setting out the most common genealogical practices that facilitate race shifting, Leroux examines two of the most prominent self-identified “Indigenous” organizations currently operating in Quebec. Both organizations have their origins in committed opposition to Indigenous land and territorial negotiations, and both encourage the use of suspect genealogical practices. Distorted Descent brings to light to how these claims to an “Indigenous” identity are then used politically to oppose actual, living Indigenous peoples, exposing along the way the shifting politics of whiteness, white settler colonialism, and white supremacy.

Eastern Métis

Eastern Métis
Author: Michel Bouchard
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2021-03-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1793605440

In Eastern Métis, Michel Bouchard, Sébastien Malette, and Siomonn Pulla demonstrate the historical and social evidence for the origins and continued existence of Métis communities across Ontario, Quebec, and the Canadian Maritimes as well as the West. Contributors to this edited collection explore archival and historical records that challenge narratives which exclude the possibility of Métis communities and identities in central and eastern Canada. Taking a continental rhizomatic approach, this book provides a rich and nuanced view of what it means to be Métis.

A Language of Our Own

A Language of Our Own
Author: Peter Bakker
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 1997-06-05
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0195357086

The Michif language -- spoken by descendants of French Canadian fur traders and Cree Indians in western Canada -- is considered an "impossible language" since it uses French for nouns and Cree for verbs, and comprises two different sets of grammatical rules. Bakker uses historical research and fieldwork data to present the first detailed analysis of this language and how it came into being.

One of the Family

One of the Family
Author: Brenda Macdougall
Publisher: UBC Press
Total Pages: 363
Release: 2011-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0774859121

In recent years there has been growing interest in identifying the social and cultural attributes that define the Metis as a distinct people. In this groundbreaking study, Brenda Macdougall employs the concept of wahkootowin � the Cree term for a worldview that privileges family and values interconnectedness � to trace the emergence of a Metis community in northern Saskatchewan. Wahkootowin describes how relationships worked and helps to explain how the Metis negotiated with local economic and religious institutions while nurturing a society that emphasized family obligation and responsibility. This innovative exploration of the birth of Metis identity offers a model for future research and discussion.