The Métis Nation

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The Métis National Council defines  Métis  as a person who self-identifies as Métis, is distinct from other Aboriginal peoples, is of historic Métis Nation Ancestry and who is accepted by the Métis Nation. 

Métis are people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry, and one of the three recognized Aboriginal peoples in  Canada. The use of the term Métis is complex and contentious, and has  different historical and contemporary meanings. The term is used to  describe communities of mixed European and Indigenous descent across  Canada, and a specific community of people — defined as the Métis Nation  — which originated largely in Western Canada and emerged as a political  force in the 19th century, radiating outwards from the Red River Settlement.  While the Canadian government politically marginalized the Métis after  1885, they have since been recognized as an Aboriginal people with  rights enshrined in the Constitution of Canada and more clearly defined in a series of Supreme Court of Canada decisions.

  https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/metis

 Métis culture has always been festive and celebrated with great joie de vivre.  The Métis style of dancing to fiddle tunes was very similar to their  Celtic and French-Canadian antecedents, but seamlessly weaved in  faster-paced First Nations footwork and rhythms such as in traditional  drumming. These traditions vary among families and communities: for  instance, the “Red River Jig,” the signature fiddle tune and dance of  the Métis, has many different versions and step patterns. House parties,  focusing on jigging, dancing and fiddle playing, were a constant  feature throughout Métis history, the climax of revelry being the réveillon (New Years’ Eve). During such times of celebration, Métis women prepared a feast that included les beignes (fried bread), la galette (bannock), les boulettes (meatballs), le rababou (stew), and molasses cakes.

 https://teaching.usask.ca/indigenoussk/import/metis_culture_and_language.php

Northwest Saskatchewan and Northeast Alberta Land Claim

The validity of the scrip system is currently being challenged in the Federal Court of Canada by Métis from northwest Saskatchewan and northeast Alberta through a statement of claim filed in that court in October 2019.

The MNC and MMF’s intervention in the Desautel case

Because of the important impacts of the case on Métis Nation rights, the MNC and MMF jointly applied to participate in the debate before the Supreme Court of Canada as interveners. The MNC and MMF proposed to argue that Aboriginal rights must be applied in a way that takes into account the Métis Nation perspective and its highly mobile way of life, and that Aboriginal peoples do not lose their constitutional rights simply by relocating within their traditional territory or due to the actions of governments that have created artificial boundaries through their traditional territory. The Supreme Court of Canada has granted the MNC and MMF permission to participate in the debate and make submissions in writing and at the hearing. The hearing, originally scheduled for May 12, 2020, has now been tentatively set for October 8, 2020. Power Law of Ottawa is representing the MNC and Kathy Hodgson-Smith of Hodgson-Smith Law is representing the MMF.

from: August 2020 Metis Nationalist Voice