‘Mawachihitotaak:’ For Métis, it matters to say ‘let’s get together’ to share stories

0 September 17, 2026 16:50

There is a great need for ongoing authentic Métis voice, representation and expression of our unique cultural identity, and a Métis studies conference convenes people this September.

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The Métis are one of the most misunderstood Indigenous groups in Canada.

The Canadian Constitution recognizes that “Aboriginal peoples of Canada includes the Indian, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada,” yet in practical terms the Métis have continually fought, and continue to fight, to have their inherent rights as Indigenous people fully recognized.

Our peoplehood comes from a shared history, political will, cultural traditions and kinship networks that predate colonial boundaries. Our homeland spans the Prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as parts of British Columbia, Ontario, the Northwest Territories and North Dakota.

Yet we are often and erroneously mistaken as simply half European and half First Nation.

As a post-contact people who were seen as different from our First Nations relatives by those who encountered us, we don’t fit easily into racial categories. Our positioning between worlds presents a conundrum for those from outside the Métis community as we proudly embrace our complexities, ambiguities and contradictions. Still, this complexity has caused confusion and left us vulnerable to those who knowingly exploit Canadians’ widespread lack of knowing.

Read more:
Becoming Indigenous: The rise of Eastern Métis in Canada

Knowing this, there is a great need for ongoing authentic Métis voice and representation, and expression of our unique cultural identity.

Seldom-heard Métis truths

In these times of “Truths Before Reconciliation,” one of the lesser-known facts in Canadian history is that Métis people have routinely asserted their Indigeneity and rights through legal means.

As respected Métis author and retired lawyer Jean Teillet details in The North-West Is Our Mother The Story of Louis Riel’s People, the Métis Nation (2021), the Métis have gathered and organized ever since the birth of our nation.

These meetings included legal discussions and plans. Métis historian Lawrence Barkwell details some of the numerous petitions sent to the Dominion of Canada starting in the mid-1840s as the Métis made extensive use of their right to petition the government for recognition of their rights, including land rights.

Very few, if any, of these petitions proved successful.

Hopeful moments unrealized

The inclusion of the Métis into the Canadian Constitution in 1982 as one of three “Aboriginal” groups was a promising moment led by Métis leader Harry Daniels and others.

In the years that followed, another hopeful moment arrived with the Supreme Court of Canada’s Powley decision that asserted Indigenous harvesting rights for Métis people. But this court-imposed definition of the Métis, with its geographical and cultural limitations set out in “the 10-point Powley Test,” raised more questions than solutions.

Years passed, and another moment of hope was sparked in 2016 with the Daniels decision from the Supreme Court of Canada that ruled Métis and non-status peoples fall under the category “Indians” under section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867. However, the legal ruling’s “mixed ancestry” wording was problematic.

Ultimately, myriad confusing legal decisions have stalled progress in Métis rights recognition — for example, in land rights, education and health.

Métis scholar and writer Chelsea Vowel has termed the provincial-federal passing of Métis rights recognition a jurisdictional “hot potato.”

A stunning example of stalling is found in the flawed scrip system that purportedly extinguished Métis land rights in the late 1800s, but is more accurately described as “Canada’s greatest land swindle” by lawyer Jason Madden.

Inequities in Indigenous rights

Marking the 10th anniversary of the Daniels decision, the Métis National Council had this to say:

“Ten years later, Métis citizens continue to experience disparities in access to essential services. In many cases, Métis governments are stepping in to fill gaps without corresponding and sustained federal support.”

In all of this uncertainty, government officials and policymakers continue making decisions without any real understanding of how our nation of people came to be or who the Métis are today.

Gathering and organizing as Métis

Outside of the courts, Métis people have routinely organized and held gatherings to talk about the pressing issues of the day.

While many are familiar with Louis Riel’s 1885 execution for high treaon, a lesser-known reality is that the Métis endured years of violence during the Reign of Terror imposed by incoming colonial powers. For generations after, Métis gathered to address the poor living conditions and ongoing injustices that Métis people faced, in community gatherings held across the homeland.

One example of this is depicted in PowWow at Duck Lake, the powerful 1967 short National Film Board film.

Along with Cree activist Harold Cardinal, the film features the first Métis person in Canada to earn a PhD, Howard Adams, who inspired a new generation of Métis to stand up for their Indigenous rights through his compelling speeches and insights.

As Teillet reminds us, the Métis have always gathered to discuss important matters. After the 1885 Resistance, those who knew the importance of preserving our side of the story, the Old Wolves as they were called, took part in “meetings — that’s how they did it. They met repeatedly. They talked and talked again.”

Their actions ensured that the Métis side of the story was not going to be lost. Métis continue to gather together across the homeland at significant historic sites, including Batoche, to celebrate culture, language and our rich history.

Other formal gatherings of Métis people continue today, arranged by our representative organizations: the Métis Nation of British Columbia, the Otipemisiwak Métis Government (Alberta), the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan, the Manitoba Métis Federation and the Métis Nation of Ontario.

Restoring Métis stories

Respected Elder and educator-author Maria Campbell set out what was lost through ongoing acts of colonial injustice in her classic 1973 book Halfbreed. Her candid words of truth took an artistic route to educating, and punctured a hole in the fabric of the western literary canon.

Today, these breakthrough efforts are gaining momentum through a collective of academics and knowledge-holders who are determined to ensure the Métis side of the Canadian story is heard.

In contributing scholarly momentum to the project of mobilizing and revitalizing Métis-specific knowledge traditions, we educate others about the Métis.

By deliberately creating gathering spaces for Métis thinkers of all kinds, from academics to community members, in diverse settings, we are making important strides towards self-determination.

The hosting of a third annual conference in Calgary this Sept. 20-24 provides further evidence that the Métis are creating intentional space to have their dreams, stories and lived experiences heard. The conference is called the Mawachihitotaak Métis Studies Conference, and Elder Verna DeMontigny, from the Prairie to Woodlands Indigenous Language Revitalization Circle, gifted the gathering with this name, which means “let’s get together” in southern Michif.

At this event, Métis thinkers and creators from a range of disciplines and professions will together share ways of understanding the world while celebrating and sustaining our culture.
Dr. Yvonne Poitras Pratt has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and, more recently, from the Canada Council for the Arts for her digital storywork. Dr. Poitras Pratt is a citizen of the Otipemisewak Metis Government.Madelaine McCracken, PhD Candidate, received the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s Doctoral Graduate Award for her doctoral research on Métis contributions to Truth Before Reconciliation through podcasting. Madelaine is a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation and a former citizen of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government.

She contributed to this article in recognition of her passion for supporting Métis-specific conversations and education across Canada within her capacity as a graduate student. Melanie Griffith Brice has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council to support her research on Métis/Michif epistemology. She is the President of the Canadian Association for the Study of Indigenous Education (CASIE), an constituent association of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE), as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Griffith Brice is a citizen of the Métis Nation – Saskatchewan.

Tags: Academic Journalism, The Conversation, The Conversation Academic News