Métis

In Canada, the Métis, as defined by the Constitution Act 1982, are Aboriginal people. They are descendants of specific mixed First Nations and European ancestry who self-identify as Métis, and are accepted into their current community. The Métis people are the modern descendants of Indigenous women in Canada and the colonial-era French, Scottish and English trappers and fur traders they married.

The descendants of these unions formed communities, first around hunting, trapping and fur trading, that to this day have a unique and specific culture. The term "Métis" does not mean any white person who believes they also have some Native ancestry. It refers to specific, intact communities of Aboriginal people and their culture. The majority of Métis people have combined Algonquian and French ancestry.

Etymology

The word "Métis" (from Old French mestis, from Late Latin mixtīcius) was first used to refer to people of mixed race born generally to indigenous women and French men in New France and La Louisiane. Over time in Canada, many mixed-race people married within their own group, maintaining contact with their indigenous culture. The term developed in association with these particular communities of mixed-race people and their unique culture.

Métis people (United States)

Métis people as discussed in this article are a specific community and culture of indigenous people, primarily living in Canada and the central and western United States. More of the population is found in Canada, where the people were deeply involved in the fur trade.

The Métis have developed as an ethnic group from the descendants of indigenous women who married French (and later Scottish) fur trappers and traders during the 18th and 19th centuries at the height of the fur trade. At the time, the border did not exist between Canada and the British colonies as much of the area was undeveloped. Traders and trappers easily moved back and forth through the area.

The Canadian Métis have a specific, unique culture. Most are found among the Michif-speaking peoples of the Red River region in modern Manitoba. In the United States, Métis live in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin (citation needed), Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana.

In the broadest sense, the term métis was applied to people of mixed indigenous and French ancestry in French colonies; it means mixture. In this article it is also used to discuss mixed-race people who descend from the united culture created by the intermarriage of various French and British fur traders from the Atlantic Coast through the Great Lakes area and to the Rocky Mountains, and women of various Algonquian, Cree and other Native American groups during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. But this use excludes mixed-race people born of unions in other settings or more recently than about 1870.

Métis people (Canada)

The Métis (/meɪˈtiː/; Canadian French: [meˈtsɪs]; Michif: [mɪˈtʃɪf]) people are Indigenous North Americans of mixed race. Métis are recognized by the government of Canada as one of the official Aboriginal peoples. They developed as the mixed-race descendants of unions between, generally, First Nations women and Western European men, but over time there were more intermarriages within the group. The term historically described all mixed-race people of First Nations and other ancestry. Within generations in the 19th century, particularly in central and western Canada, a distinct Métis culture developed. Since the late 20th century, the Métis people have been recognized as an Aboriginal people, with formal recognition equal to that given to the Inuit and First Nations peoples.

The early mothers were usually Mi'kmaq, Algonquin, Saulteaux, Cree, Ojibwe, Menominee, or Maliseet, or of mixed descent from these peoples. After New France was ceded to Great Britain's control, at one time there was an important distinction between French Métis born of francophone voyageur fathers, and the Anglo-Métis (known as "countryborn"') descended from English or Scottish fathers. Today these two cultures have essentially coalesced into one Métis tradition. Such mixed-race people were referred to by other terms, many of which are now considered to be offensive, such as Mixed-bloods, Half-breeds, Bois-Brûlés, Bungi, Black Scots, and Jackatars.

List of Métis people

This is a partial list of Canadians who are of Métis descent.

Prominent Métis

Historical