Metis Studies the Development of a Field and New Directions
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Metis Studies The Development of a Field and New Directions FRITS PANNEKOEK UNTIL RECENTLY, source Metir sfo s studies have been few both for classroom use as well as academic reflection. Lately, there has been a virtual explosion of interest, although largely among non- Metis historians begus ha thichangeo o w n dynamit sw to .No ne .A alss ci o forcing Rive d Meti Re whic n rf i so historiographg h sombo e th e f o t you argue it has been mired for too long. The writings of the previous decades have already been examined fro mhistoriographicaa l perspectiv severan ei l excellent articles.1 Rather than updating these useful exercises alternan ,a - tive is to examine the new literature from a topical perspective, posing ques- tion suggestind san avenuew gne investigationf so . The current literature is the reflection of scholarly concerns of the last two decades and fit into six basic themes or areas: the origins of the Metis people historie th , c Metifue rth tradf so e perioeighteente th f do earld han y nineteenth century e Meti lato th ,t ed s nineteentDiaspormi e th f o a h century, the revival of Metis consciousness in the twentieth century, Metis land claims, and Metis women's history. A case could be made that the begin- ning poin eacn i t thesf ho egreae areath e t siconar Metif so s historiography: W.L. Morton, G.F.G. Stanley, and Marcel Giraud.2 However, their studies have been well assesse ofted dan n reinforce stereotypes bess i loo o t t i ko s , to more recent literature. , ; ,, , Metis Identities and Origins Much of the current debate in Metis studies, whether cultural or legal, but particularly those relating to land rights, centres on who is Metis. This interes Metin i t s identit smalo sparke n y origin d e n i yl wa an th s y dsb wa work of John Fosterlate th e n 1970I . 1980d 5an 5 Foster examined somn ,i e detail origine varioue ,th th f so s Metis communitie Canadiae th n si n West.3 lass tHi essa thin yo s subject, "Wintering Outsidee th , r Adule t Malth d ean Ethnogenesis of the Western Plains Metis," goes a long way in detailing the complexit Metif yo s origins. Sinc 1980e eth 5 scholars have also beguo nt investigat emergence eth Metif eo s communitie othen si r part Nortf so h America. These studies enhance our understanding of the complexity of Metis identity and provide some insight as to why some of these communi- ties were so short lived.4 Several questions are current with regard to Metis identity and its origins. thee ar First y w defined Metie ho , preciselth d e san ? ar Thio yswh question is particularly relevant given the 1982 identification of the Metis as Aboriginal people under the Canadian constitution. At one time, some suggested that only thos coulo ewh d claim ancestr historie th o yt c Metis, that is those from Red River, could claim Aboriginal rights. Where, some asked, would this leave the Saskatchewan and Alberta Metis? In 1983, depending upo definitioe nth Aboriginaf no l Metis, there coulmans a e dyb as one-millioone-hundred-thousans a w fe s a r no d Meti Canadan si . Second, why do the Metis have a strong collective identity in Western Canada, but only a weak sense of one in Eastern Canada or in the United States? John Foster in his "Some Questions and Perspectives on the Problem of Metis" argues rather cogently and with a great deal of common sense that you are Metis if you say you are, and, as important, you are Metis if others who iden- tify themselve are.u Metis sa yo 5 y Unfortunatelssa y both conditiont no n sca alway met e frosd b man , that springs much current conflict. Trudy Nickn si "Mary Ann's Dilemma: The Ethnohistory of an Ambivalent Identity," brings the issues of identity home by examining the very personal dilemma of a Cree Metis woman. She identified herself as Cree, until her material culture was identified as Metis by a Provincial Museum of Alberta curator. She then identityw ne opte a r . dfo Littl bees eha n materiaf dono e e us wit e l hth cultur identifo et y Metis ethnicity obvious i t i d s,an fro Nicke mth s article that while the exercise may have its rewards there will be many pitfalls along the way.6 There is, however, innovative new work being done in Metis cultural history, muc whicf ho beet hno stilns publishedlha recene .Th t work Michie th n o f languag gooa s ei d indicatio promise th f no e this work holds.7 e rol f governmentTh eo e formatioth n si Metif no s identit vers yi y evident in the writings Olive Dickason, Jacqueline Peterson, Vern Dusenberry, and David Boisver Keitd an t h Turnbull thein I . r article, e "Whth e oar Metis?" lattee author8o th rtw simpace focuth n governmenf so to t regula- tion and law on the creation of a Metis identity. In particular, they attempt to deal with the question of who are the "historic Metis." Can the past and the current identity of the "historic Metis": or those with roots in Red River form a realistic foundation for a new Canadian Metis identity? Where does this leav Saskatchewane eth AlbertTerritoriae e ,th th d aan l Metis whose t extenrootno o sd there theit ?Ye r point abou importance th t governf eo - ment policy in determining identity is worth pursuing, and in fact emerges METIS STUDIES in a number of other writings by senior scholars. Olive Dickason argues in her "From One Nation"9 that the Metis did not emerge in New France because of government policy to assimilate any mixed-bloods into French culture. Peterson also argue articler he n si , "Many RiverRoadd Re ;o s t Meti s Genesis in the Great Lakes Region, 1680-1815,"'° tnat if the Metis did find their Grearoote th n si t Lake salss areaowa becaust ,i e government regula- tion was tempered with isolation. Vern Dusenberry's observation of the American situatio Tha y "Waitins hi Da t n a ni Neve r gfo r Comese :Th Dispossessed Metis of Montana"11 may be the most telling. He provides clear evidence that government refusal to recognise the Metis, and the Metis acceptanc facte th ,f erelegateo d statu e mosth Indiansf o st o . More recent work on the American Metis in Montana and North Dakota adds some complexity to this picture showing how the Metis were able maintain some sense of a separate identity within the context of tribal structures.12 Rived Re re MetiTh s In the last decade much ink has been devoted to the historic or Red River Metis. The debate is often acrimonious and some might argue not relevant to the Metis situation today. But it is critically relevant because so much of Canada's Metis identit ties yi whao dt t happene Riverd thir Re t Fo s.da reaso imperativs i t ni understano et Rived formatioe dth Re re Metith f no s and their subsequent dispersal and move into the western interior. One particular event that has been re-examined recently involves what has come knowe "Sevee b th o t s na n Oaks Massacre." This incident, that ende2 2 n di deaths, only one a Metis, is often cited as the single event that acted as the catalyst that shaped the Metis identity and proved their rights to Manitoba's plains. Even so, until 1992, the incident received little close attention. Lyle Dick in a provocative article, "The Seven Oaks Incident,"^ argues that the killings were not planned, and that it was to the advantage of the settlers and other Canadians to call Seven Oaks a "massacre." By doing so, they justified the subjugation of the Metis. The word "massacre" confirmed the image of the Metis as a barbaric and savage people. This same image of the Metis as a less than "civilized people" was reinforced by a generation of historians like George Stanle interpretations hi n yi 186e 188d th 9f an 5 so rebellions as inevitable clashes between a civilised and primitive society. Other questions that are being asked by scholars and by the Metis Community include: What was the nature of this society? What caused the societ chango yt e over time particularn ?I , what wer economie eth d can social pressures insid Rived eRe r that precipitate Riee dth l Resistancf eo 1869? The writings ofW.L. Morton, Marcel Giraud, G.F.G. Stanley, Gerhard Ens,14 Irene Spry,15 Frits Pannekoek,16 and Sylvia Van Kirk17 address these questions. While the particular events of the Riel resistance of 1869 are not Frits Pannekoek 113 currently subject to much debate, the importance of the resistance in alien- ating the Metis from the Canadian mainstream is an area to be studied. The interpretation of the two armed uprisings will always be central to an understandin dynamie th histori e f go th f co c Metis publicatioe .Th n i 1985 of The Collected Writings of Louis Riel^ has made it much easier to examine cruciae somth f eo l sources relate theso dt e uprising evaluato t d san e some of the interpretations that have arisen regarding them. The appendix to this volume, by Thomas Flanagan and Glen Campbell, updates this collection including som Kiel'f eo s writings that wer t includee no publishee th n di d five volumes, as well as providing a commentary to these sources.