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Ambivalent Relations: How the , French and Hollywood have viewed the Métis - Darren R. Préfontaine Module Objective: In this module, the students will learn about the relationship between the Métis and their two main ancestral groups: First Nations and . The students will also learn how Hollywood portrayed the Métis in its golden era. Métis Relations: The First Nations and the French Canadians

The Métis are predominantly the descendents of First Nations (primarily Algonquian – and Ojibwa) and French Canadians. Besides inheriting genetic traits from these very diverse groups, the Métis also inherited a profound cultural legacy, which they have adapted to make a unique syncretistic culture. From these disparate groups, the Métis borrowed and adapted culture, language, religion/spiritualism, clothing and economies. Also, since the Métis were a mix of these cultures, it is only natural that their culture was a mélange of all these traditions, but not derivative of them. One would assume that the relationship between the Métis and their two parent groups would be cordial. However, from the beginning relations between these groups have been ambivalent. That is not to say that in certain instances in the past and within families and communities that there were not any warm ties among the Métis and their two parent groups.

Métis-First Nations Relations

Much has been written about the historical relationship between Métis and Euro-Canadians and Euro-Americans; however, there are no monographs or probing essays discussing the very ambivalent relationship between Métis and First Nations. Oral tradition from First Nations and Métis Elders on this topic is sparse. Nonetheless, the pattern that emerges is one of ambivalence. This

1 ambivalence is demonstrated by the numerous names given to the Métis by various First Nations. These include the Cree terms Apeetogosan (Half-son) Apihtawikosisanak (Half-Breed) and Otipemisiwak (those who own themselves), or the Ojibwa Wissakodewinimi (half-burnt stick men), which was the equivalent of the French terms of similar meaning “bois-brûlé” and “chicot”. The Dakota also called the Métis the “Flower Beadwork People” because of the Métis’ bright floral adornments on their clothing and personal affects. Finally, in Plains Indian , the Métis were known as “Half-wagon men” because of their frequent use of Red River carts. For the and French- speaking Métis, the First Nations were known as “sauvages” – or the “wild people”.

The historic Métis borrowed and adapted from First Nations culture, particularly languages, worldviews, and spiritual systems. Perhaps the most important aspect of Amerindian cultural retention by the Métis was their use and knowledge of First Peoples' languages (and worldviews). Most Métis spoke Cree or Saulteaux, and many more could speak Lakota, Dakota, Sarcee, Crow, Black Foot and Dene. This served the historic Métis well for they were in high demand as interpreters. Their multilingualism also made them excellent liaisons between Europeans and First Peoples. The Red River Métis also embraced First Nations spiritualism, which they participated in when the priests were not present. Many attended sweat lodges, gave offerings to the Creator and used sweet grass and sage for cleansing. Indeed, some Métis were devout Roman Catholics, who also practiced Aboriginal spiritualism, seeing no conflict between the two. Métis Elders, like their First Nations counterparts, also remitted stories and knowledge through the Oral Tradition. First Nations' traditional medicines and modes of healing were equally practiced alongside European folk

2 medicine. The Métis gathered such plants and shrubs as Seneca root for medicinal purposes and prepared them in traditional First Nations methods.

Space and time indicated how the Métis related with their Cree/Ojibwa or French-Canadian parent cultures and vice versa. Some First Nations had amicable relations with the Métis; others were less cordial and some were hostile. Today, the gulf between First Nations and Métis political, social and economic agendas appears quite wide. However, earlier in history, particularly when the Métis had a small population, relations were almost always amicable between the Métis and their parent cultures.

Historically, before the Canadian state legislated varying degrees of Aboriginal status, Métis and First Nations living in the , while knowing their distinctness, nevertheless lived in relative harmony. Many great First Nations chiefs such as Tecumseh (1768-1813) or Shingwaukonse (1773-1854) were biologically Métis, although they identified as First Nations. Many early Great Lakes Métis such as Charles-Michel (Mouat) de Langlade (1729-1800) were considered warriors and were highly regarded by the First Nations for their martial process. For instance, the Menominee called Langlade “Akewangeketawso” or “he who is fierce for the land.” Indian leadership at the time also honoured their Métis cousins. For instance, the great Ojibwa Chief Shingwaukonse worked diligently to ensure that the Métis would be included in the provisions of the 1850 Robinson Huron and Superior Treaties. In fact, Nicholas Chastelain, a French Métis, was a spokesperson for these treaties. He was also a signatory on behalf of the Métis at where the Métis took adhesion to Treaty 3.

3 Throughout the nineteenth century, relations between the Métis and First Nations were strained on the Prairies, specifically when the Métis began to challenge other Aboriginal groups for control of the bison hunting grounds. For instance, in the 1830s and 1840s, the Métis fought a number of skirmishes – culminating on 13 June 1851, at the Battle of Grand Coteau – with the Dakota and Lakota over the use of the rich bison hunting fields of the Dakota Territory. The Cree, and the Saulteaux also had tense moments with the Métis over the use of this vital resource. In fact, many First Nations Elders believe that the Métis greatly contributed to the extermination of the bison. In the 1970s, John Yellowhorn, an hereditary Chief of the Peigan Reserve said that “the and half-breeds were killing all the buffalo, just to sell the hides to the Hudson’s Bay Company.” (Price p.141) Recent scholarship about nineteenth century Cree leaders Ahtahkakoop (1816-1896), (Mistahimusqua 1825- 1888), (Pitikwahanapiwiyin 1840-1886) and Mistawasis show that the Métis “forced” the Cree to comply with their regulation of the bison hunt. The Métis are also accused of using poison on fur bearing animals and of indiscriminately selling whisky to First Nations.

During the signing of numbered treaties on the Prairies, the Métis served as interpreters. Many First Nations Elders and scholars believe that the Métis, while having an excellent commend of Cree, did not understand Blackfoot, Tsuu T’ina or Dene. As a result, much was lost in the translation between what the First Nations expected and what the government granted to them. Worse still, some Elders accuse the Métis translators of colluding with the government. In particular, Jerry Potts (1840-1896), a hard-drinking Métis of Scots-Blood ancestry, was singled out as being incompetent in all Treaty 7 languages and in being duplicitous in his dealings with the First Nations. Many First Nations

4 Elders and scholars feel that the Métis sided with the government when dealing with the Indians. Other First Nations, particularly the Saulteaux welcomed the intermediary role played by such Métis as the James McKay (1828-1879).

Largely lost in the discussion of scrip and treaties was the fact that many First Nations took scrip and many Métis took treaty. In fact, it was common government policy that those Métis who lived as Indians could be allowed to take Treaty. For instance, in 1905, Treaty No. 9 commissioners visited Fort Albany and admitted over thirty Métis into treaty. In Denendeh or Dene Country, many Métis took treaty in Treaty 8 negotiations. In both the Robinson Huron and Superior Treaties (1850) and in the varied Numbered Treaties (1871- 1909), many “Indians” who took treaty had French-Canadian names, which suggests a large presence of at least biological Métis entering treaty rolls.

The gulf between First Nations and Métis seems at its greatest when discussing the events of 1885. A First Nations view of the 1885 Resistance is very different than the Métis one. For instance, Cree Elders argue that the Cree and Métis were involved in two separate and unrelated resistances – the First Nations in a peaceful resistance to have their treaty rights honoured and the Métis in a bloody resistance. It was the Métis who forced some Cree and Assiniboine to fight – with the end result being the eventual crushing of the Cree’s peaceful efforts to have their treaty promises honoured. In particular, many First Nations are angered with ’s and Gabriel Dumont’s efforts to recruit Indians to fight with the Métis, all the while feeling that the Indians should be made to work “ as Pharaoh made the Jews work” in order to receive their entitled food rations. This is an original quote, from Riel’s pen in 1884, which was later discarded.

5 Que le gouvernment Canadien nourrisse les Sauvages. Qu’on ne donne pas à la chrétienté le spectacle navrant de les faire mourir par la faim. Si la civilisation de notre siècle le permettait, et si la Puissance le veut; que le gouvernment fasse travailler les Indiens autant que Pharaon a fait travailler les Juifs, mais `a tout prix qu’il ne les pas en proie aux halluncinations, au délire de la faim.

On ne veut pas que les gens parlent pour ces sauvages; mais les Sauvages accablent les établissements métis. Les métis et autres colons dépensent plus pour les Sauvages que le gouvernment. Et on veut défendre au peuple de mentionner cet était de choses. Ce n’est pas ainsi que le gouvernment Féderal devrait aministrer les affaires indiennes. (3-014. Mémorandum préparé par Riel et montré à Mgr Grandin)[ St.Laurent]. [84/09/05]

Regarding the Canadian government feeding the Indians. It is not with a Christian spirit that this annoying spectacle of making death by famine occurs. If our century’s civilization has the power and the will, then the government will make the Indians work much like Pharaoh made the Jews work, but at all cost – it cannot let them fall prey to their hallucinations or fear of hunger.

It (the government) does not want people to speak for the Indians, but the Indians are overwhelming Métis communities. The Métis and the other colonists pay more for the support of the Indians than the government. If the government wanted to support these people, it would have done something. This is not how the federal government should administer Indian affairs. (Translation by Darren R. Préfontaine and John Leclair) Even though this passage was never used in a formal document, First Nations scholars see it as an example of Riel’s racism. However, the quote is never put in its proper context nor is it used in its entirety. Riel was arguing that the federal government was starving the First Nations and was in a sense abrogating its responsibilities to them. Many Métis would further argue that their ancestors often played the role of cultural brokers for First Nations and Euro- Canadians. This often meant using the colonizer’s and the colonized frame of reference when negotiating with them.

Following the 1885 Resistance, many Métis and First Nations continued to intermarry, even if it meant losing status for Indian women. Many Aboriginal activists such as James Dion, Malcolm Brady and Jim Norris tried desperately to ameliorate the desperate living conditions of both the Métis and First Nations. In fact, the Cree chief Papasschayo provided great spiritual, emotional

6 and spiritual support to Alberta’s Métis. During the early twentieth century, relations at the community level were according to Métis Elders, very cordial. Family ties often allowed Métis children access to reserve schooling, which was important because Métis Elders that they were not allowed to attend non- Aboriginal schools. Many Métis Elders also fondly remember taking part in First Nations dancing competitions. Today, however, as Métis and First Nations move towards self-governing agreements, there appears to be little cooperation.

The Métis and French Canadians

With unstinting love I give praise/ To French-Canadien-Metis:/ A young people whose yesterdays/ Are now alive as history../.Canadiens alonside Metis/ Fueled to the French, three elements/ That fuse quite well. An entity/ Increasing by increments. Louis David Riel, The French-Canadian-Metis

The Métis and the French Canadians have a parallel and intertwining history and often have the same family names. However, the Métis and the French Canadians have an ambivalent relationship.

The historic Red River Métis borrowed and adapted from their Canadien relatives. Arguably, the most important thing borrowed from French was the . The Métis spoke the same patois as rural French Canadians in (present-day Québec). Grammatical and changes to the French language came in the eighteenth century. However, the historic Métis were unaware of these changes until the mid-1800s, when French- Canadian, French and Belgian missionaries began to settle among them. Most historic Métis spoke Michif French and Michif Cree – a distinct language consisting of Cree and French nouns. The nomadic buffalo hunters largely spoke Michif Cree, while the Métis farmers of Red River usually spoke Michif French.

7 The French-Canadian passed on a vibrant folk culture with a love of storytelling, recounting legends, singing and dancing on to the Métis. The historic Métis clearly inherited the "joie de vivre" or “joy of life” lifestyle of their French-Canadian voyageur fathers. They enjoyed social interaction with their peers. Le réveillon, or New Years’ Eve was their most important social event of the year: everybody danced and listened to music all night and ate tortières, or meat pies, bison stew, maple syrup treats (from Maples), and poudine or . Men wore brightly coloured ceintures fléchées, or sashes, a voyageur shirt, clothe pants, buckskin coat, moccasins and leggings adorned with elaborate flower beadwork patterns. Women and girls were long colourful dresses, with large crucifixes, kerchiefs, leggings and beaded moccasins. At this and other festive occasions, extended families would sing and tell stories such as that of the Métis shapeshifter – Li Roogaroo (loosely based on the French-Canadian werewolf, the loup garou).

French-Canadian ideas about nationalism, religion and farming also influenced the Métis. Early Métis nationalism tried to deviate from French-Canadian patriotic symbols at first with the creation of the blue and red Métis infinity flag, which symbolized the coming together of two different peoples to produce a distinct new people. However, by the mid-nineteenth century, the Métis adopted Saint Jean Baptiste, the French-Canadian patron saint, in addition to the fleur des lys. St. Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, later became the recognized patron saint of the Métis by the time of the 1885 Resistance. Métis nationalists, from Louis Riel, Gabriel Dumont, to the founders of the L'union nationale de la métisse du Manitoba, also looked to French-Canadian nationalists for support and ideas. In the French-Canadian tradition, almost all of the Métis communities were named after saints (children were also named after saints),

8 and all religious observances were followed. As devout Catholics, the historic Métis had very large families. French Canadians also provided the Métis with the sash, the river lot farm system, Catholicism and a distrust of the English and .

Throughout the fur trade period, the Métis and the French Canadians constituted the same community, albeit with two distinct populations. French- Canadian voyageurs lived in Métis communities and married Aboriginal women à la façon du pays (according to the custom of the country). In the present-day Canadian West, French-Canadian voyageurs worked under the leadership of Cuthbert Grant during the Battle of Seven Oaks (June 16, 1816) and Jean-Louis Riel during the 1849 Guillaume Sayer free trade trial in 1849. In fact, the French- Métis and French-Canadian voyageurs were so similar that English and American chroniclers could not distinguish between them. To contemporary Anglo population, they were usually called “Canadians”, “Indian French” or “Canada French”. However, among themselves the Métis and French Canadians could distinguish between one another. For the French Canadians, the Métis were “Bois-Brûlés” or “burnt-wood men” because of the darker hue of their skin and the Métis called the French Canadians “Canayens1”, a derivative of Canadien.

The historical record has lead some to assume that the voyageurs were Métis or exclusively French-Canadian. In fact, most voyageurs prior to 1821 were French Canadian and after that date and with the amalgamation of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Northwest Company, the Métis became the largest group of fur trade workers. In contemporary times, this idea of who the voyageurs were has caused tensions between French Canadians and Métis. For instance, the

1 In fact, the Michif word for any French person or Francophone is “Kanayen”. Source: Laverdure, Patline and Allard, Ida. Editors. The Michif Dictionary. : Pemmican Publications, 1983.

9 Métis often wonder how Franco-Manitobans, descendants of farmers and merchants who came out West in the late nineteenth century, could sponsor the “” every February. Some Francophones may find it odd that there are Métis voyageur games. In fact, the voyageurs were “”, who went to work in the fur trade to supplement their meager incomes as peasant farmers. Thus both Métis and local French Canadians can claim the heritage of voyageurs.

The second group of French Canadians to interact with the Métis were priests. As early as the late 1810s, French-Canadian priests began conducting missionary work among the Métis and First Nations of Rupert’s Land. In fact, the Métis were eager proselytizers for Catholicism, working with the missionaries to bring the faith to the Cree, Dene and Saulteaux. French-Canadian missionaries such as Pères Georges-Antoine Belcourt and Lestanc were often well-loved among the Métis because they treated the Métis with admiration and respect; often administering the gospel and taking sacraments while on the bison hunt. Others such as Bishops or Taché were overtly paternalistic since they wanted the Métis to integrate into the newly emerging Euro-Canadian society at Red River. Paternalism was an aspect of French-Canadian Catholicism that the Métis did not welcome. For instance, in 1896, Père Albert Lacombe started a Métis colony in northeast Alberta, known as St. Paul des Métis, which was meant to instruct the landless Métis on how to become self-sufficient farmers. An inflexible paternalism led to the colony’s demise in 1907, with the coup de grace coming in 1905 when mistreated Métis children burned down the day school. The Métis saw their dream shattered and their land, which they had cleared and toiled on for a decade, was given to French-Canadian farmers. Finally, a wound that deeply hurt the Métis occurred in 1885 when the French

10 and French-Canadian priests at Batoche, particularly Père André, assisted the government in putting down the resistance.

While the historic Métis borrowed from French Canadians, they were not French Canadians. Relations between the two groups were often cordial, however, there was often tension, particularly after French-Canadian farmers and merchants came to Manitoba after 1870.

It is also commonly assumed that the Métis and French Canadians had a great deal of solidarity during the 1860-70 and 1885 Resistances. In fact, real divisions were evident between the two groups at this time despite Louis Riel’s claim that his “Métis-Canadiens” or “French-Canadian-Métis” had a great deal of cultural, linguistic and religious solidarity with French Canadians. Québec’s response from the Red River Resistance was muted, although local French-Canadians supported the resistance. After the Métis lost their political power in Manitoba, French Canadians began taking over the judicial, political and economic infrastructure built up by the Métis. Some French-Canadian scrip speculators made small fortunes in Manitoba. In 1885, French Canadians in the Batoche area such as shopkeepers Philippe Garnot and Philippe Chamberlain were “conscripted” by the Métis; Garnot actually became one of Riel’s secretaries. Other local French Canadians such as Willow Bunch’s Jean-Louis Légaré opposed the resistance and compelled local Métis to stay neutral.

In Québec, French Canadians reacted as if the assault on the Métis and the execution of Louis Riel was an attack on themselves and not upon an Aboriginal people living in . Moreover, contemporary French Canadians’ reaction to the 1885 Resistance and the execution of Riel was a mixture of

11 legitimate sympathy and paternalism. In the eyes of the French-Canadian elite, an apostate (an orthodox follower who became a heretic) and mad Riel led an uneducated body of people into rebellion, which was precipitated by the federal government’s (read ’s) callous treatment of the Métis’ legitimate claims. With Riel’s execution on November 16, 1885, the response from French Canada was nonetheless visceral. Tens of thousands of French Canadians, led by and Honoré Mercier, descended upon Montréal’s Champs de Mars and protested Riel’s execution and provided a searing indictment of the Macdonald government’s lackluster Métis policy.

Following 1885, French-Canadian, French and Walloon (French Belgian) immigrants came to the Prairie West, and settled in such Métis communities as Batoche, St. Louis, Willow Bunch, Val Marie in present-day , St. Paul des Métis and St. Albert, in present-day Alberta and in the former French Métis parishes in Manitoba. Intermarriage was common because of linguistic and religious similarities. In addition, having a sufficiently large body of Francophones present also allowed some Métis to escape racism and the stigma of being “Half-Breed rebels” by stating that they were “French”. This angered some French Canadians.

In the Pioneer Period (1896-1921) of the Prairie West, many French Canadians were openly racist towards the Métis. There are historical reasons for this. For instance, in the tit-for-tat between English and French Canada, much has been made about Samuel de Champlain’s cliched dictum that “Our children will marry and become one people”. In fact, historians, genealogists and geneticists all concur that French Canadians have a significant amount of First Nations ancestry. English Canadians used this and other documented and circumstantial

12 historical evidence to argue that the French Canadians were a “bastardized” branch of the French “race”.

French Canadians recoiled at such tribalism by being equally racist towards Indians and the Métis both in historical writing and in society. This meant, of course, denying those components of their identity, which are of non-French origin, and the acculturation, and intermarriage of their Canadien ancestors, the Coureurs de bois and even the Habitants, with Aboriginal women is the easiest to eschew. Miscegenation, or race-mixing, was long denied to have been of any consequence in New . Clerical-nationalist historians, particularly and Thomas Chapais, were responsible for articulating the myth that French Canadians were a "" race of exclusive French ancestry.

The old historiography of French Canada and its dominant clerical-nationalist canon, in vogue from the 1840s to the 1960s, was arguably, the factor most responsible for French Canada’s ambivalent relationship with the Métis. The creation of the Métis was traditionally treated as a peripheral and insignificant event to the development of and French Canada. By contrast, the historiography delineating the lives and resistances of the historic Métis has been a staple of Prairie historical writing for at least a century. Furthermore, French-Canadian historians and social scientists analyzed the Métis' resistances not as the creation of a "new nation" but rather as an example of an unjust and racist "Anglo-Saxon" conspiracy against fellow Catholics and Francophones, which occurred throughout Canada. French-Canadian intellectuals, therefore, treated the Métis as a Prairie phenomenon with French-Canadian rather than Indigenous concerns.

13 This is the cultural legacy, which French-Canadian farmers brought out West when they encountered their Métis cousins. Many French-Canadian settlers, imbued with such racist thinking, often derisively called the Métis “les michifs”. In places such as Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan, the Métis were even dispossessed and disenfranchised by French Canadians.

The relationship between the Métis and the French Canadians was not always hostile. According to Métis Elders James Lavalley and Clementine Longworth, the French Canadians and Métis got on amicably near the Métis settlement at Crooked Lake, Saskatchewan. Mr. Lavalley said that the French Canadians enjoyed Métis stories:

Grandpa (Xavier Lavallée) used to talk French. But… the used to come down there and give him tobacco, and he knew what tobacco was. He knew that he had to tell them stories. They’d sit around.

Similarly, Louis Schmidt, Louis Riel’s former secretary, is fondly remembered by the (Saskatchewan Francophones) for fighting for Francophone rights in Saskatchewan in the early twentieth century. During the early half of the twentieth century, the two groups had similar positions on national political issues. For instance, like French Canadians and Treaty Indians, French Métis also opposed conscription in the 1917 federal election and during the 1942 federal plebiscite. They also voted Liberal and shunned the Conservatives, when they were allowed to vote, like French Canadians. Like French Canadians they supported cooperatives and credit unions. However, by World War II, both Métis and French Canadians in Western Canada began to raise their children in English-speaking environments. Any commonality that existed between the two groups disappeared as assimilated French Canadians integrated into the larger English-speaking environment, while the Métis continued to encounter

14 racism and poverty. This divide still largely continues as both groups seek to define their place in Prairie and Canadian society.

Métis in the Movies The Métis, or “Half-Breed” as they were once derogatorily known, were once a permanent and menacing figure in North-American popular culture, particularly dime-store novels, serials and golden-age movies. The way that the Métis were portrayed in classic cinema was, according to popular historian and author Pierre Berton, scandalous:

This unrelenting libel on the Métis… can neither be excused by pointing to the tenure of the times in which it occurred, nor explained away by the essential naïveté of the silent films, nor condoned by the need of screenwriters and directors to inject drama and conflict into their stories. Nobody – not the blacks, not the Indians – has suffered as badly at the hands of the filmmakers as have the Métis. (Berton p.99)

Essentially, classic filmmakers found the perfect scapegoat for the social ills plaguing American society with the “degenerate”, “sneaky”, “dirty”, “promiscuous” “Half-Breed” or mulatto who schemed to “deflower” virtuous white women, all the while killing, cheating and thieving. Miscegenation (race- mixing) produced this “monstrous” hybrid, which had the worst characteristics of First Nations, Euro-Americans or African-Americans. D.W. Griffith’s crude film “The Birth of a Nation”(1917) in which the Ku Klux Klan puts down an uprising by sexually-depraved mulattos and African Americans is the archetype of racist cinema. However, the original film warning against the perils of race- mixing was Cecile B. DeMille’s “Squaw Man” (1914), which critiqued Native- American and Euro-American intermarriage. It is apparent that filmmakers’ preoccupations with these vile caricatures underlined a fear of what would happen if Euro-Americans lost control of American society.

15 The Métis appeared in westerns, and movies about Canada, particularly about the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) and the fur trade. They were always the villains and appeared in the following caricatures: the deceitful and cowardly French-Canadian Half-Breed, the promiscuous and violent female French- Canadian Half-Breed, and the English-speaking Half-Breed in American Westerns. Other than the accents, the Canadian and American Métis in early cinema was the same character. He sold whisky to the Indians, tried to seduce innocent and unsuspecting white women, and murdered valiant white men in a cowardly and underhanded fashion. The Métis woman in cinema was ruled by lust, revenge and was lewd, savage and insanely jealous of the principled and morally pure Anglo-Saxon woman. They were also the mirror opposites of the quiet, dignified and delicate Indian “princesses” (who were played by white women) and the virtuous and loyal white woman. In only one film, “Ramona, the Dawn Maiden” (1916), a Métis woman was portrayed positively.

Some of the more early memorable films in which the “savage” and “hot- blooded” Métis temptress appeared include:

• “The Trapper’s Revenge” (1915) in which the character of Marie Duprée, a Métisse, was described by a reviewer as a “capricious coquette” who torments her mounted policemen lover “without mercy”

• “The Law of the North” (1917) Marie Beaubien is the scheming mistress of an evil fur-trade factor

• “Canadian Pacific” (1949) in which a lady doctor and a Métis women compete for the affections of a CRP railway surveyor

• “Gunman’s Walk” (1958) in which a rancher’s son falls in love a wild Sioux- Métis woman. Other “savage” Métis women from the golden age of cinema include: Marie in “Paid in Advance”, Woolie-Woolie in “Men of the North” (1930) and Neenah in the “ Stampede”. These women were one-dimensional and pathetic

16 creatures who wore “the standard Hollywood Female Half-Breed Costume: long black hair in braids, long necklaces of beads or animal teeth, buckskin or leather skirts, and high boots”. (Berton p. 97)

However, the most infamous film of this genre was the Cecile B. DeMille epic “North-West Mounted Police” (1940), which centres on the violent and deceitful Métissse Louvette (Paulette Goddard) and her love affair with a Mountie. Louvette, from “The North-West Mounted Police” has become the prototype of this racist caricature. In the film, she lures her Mountie lover, Ronnie, away from his post just prior to the 1885 Battle of Duck Lake, which according to the movie precipitated a massacre of hapless Mounties by hundreds of Métis. Ronnie was warned to stay away from Louvette from a fellow Mountie who tells his friend “I told you to stay away from that klootch. She’s poison. Never trust a blue-eyed squaw”. (Berton p.98) Of course, the Mounties were not as virtuous as film and myth have portrayed. Recently, scholars such as Sarah Carter have erased the mythic veneer of the North West Mounted Police by arguing that members of the Mounted Police sexually exploited Aboriginal women throughout their early history. Perhaps in the future, film roles will be reversed to better reflect historical reality.

Métis men were portrayed with equal venom in classic cinema. Indeed, very few portrayals of Métis men in early cinema were positive. These include Douglas Fairbanks who played a virtuous Métis in “The Half-Breed” (1916), George Walsh in “The Test of Donald Norton” (1926) and the “good” Half-Breed character in “Flaming Arrow” (1913) who assisted the white settlers in their struggle against the Indians. However, most characterizations of Métis men in early cinema were less savory. The Métis man was a licentious, deceitful, cowardly, perverse and grasping figure. For instance, John Ford’s “The Iron Horse” (1924) uses a

17 particularly violent Métis villain. This caricature was developed in cinema as early as 1909, in the film “The Cattle Thieves” in which the Half-Breed Pierre “coveted” a white women named Mary in a “greedy way”. This same illiterate and degenerate French-Métis character was portrayed in “The Savage” (1917), “Pierre of the North”, “God’s Country and the Law” (1921), “A Romance of the Canadian Wilds”, “A Romance in Fur Country”, “Jacques the Wolf”, “The Flaming Forest”, “Rose Marie, and “Red Riders of Canada” (1928). In “Northern Pursuit”(1943), a Métis trader even betrays Canada to the Nazis! In one of these racist films, a Métis was actually described as “an alien intruder…of degenerate blood”. (p.93 Berton).

These caricatures always squared off against their rivals, Mounties who stood for purity, law and order and all that was good against unhealthy promiscuity, thievery, treachery, and the threat of a monstrous progeny. Jacques Corbeau (George Bancroft), the villain in the film “North-West Mounted Police” (a former CBC late night staple) was the beau ideal of this treacherous Half-Breed character. In the film, he sells whisky to the Indians, tricks them into rebelling against the Crown, forces an indecisive Riel into fomenting rebellion and takes demonic delight in mowing down unarmed Mounted Police with a Gattling Gun before being stopped by the NWMP and a Texas Marshall (Garry Cooper). Of course, the Canadian military used this early machine gun against the Métis during the Battle of Batoche. Corbeau appears to have been loosely based on Gabriel Dumont.

After WWII, a collective guilt began to set in Hollywood and the Métis were portrayed more positively. They were no longer the “other”; now, however, in film they had to make the agonizing decision about choosing between their

18 Native and Euro-Ameircan heritages. These films include Stuart Gilmar’s “The Half-Breed” (1952), Roger Corman’s “Apache Woman” (1955) and Elvis Presley’s “Flaming Star” (1960). With the rise of the Civil Rights movement and a social conscience in Hollywood, in the 1960s, films finally tried to be more sympathetic to the plight of disadvantaged minorities. Some of these attempts at addressing wrongs done to the Métis were ham-fisted and closely mirrored that other genre of 1970s cinema, the “Blackploitation” film. The “Billy Jack” movies by Tom Laughlin: “Born Losers” (1967), “Billy Jack” (1971), “The Trial of Billy Jack” (1974) and “Billy Jack Goes to Washington” (1977), in which a Pueblo Half-Breed battles racists with his martial arts/special forces training are the best examples of this socially-conscious exploitation genre. Other films of this nature include “Johnny Tiger” (1966), Lee H. Katzin’s “Hondo and the Apaches” (1967), Paul Hunt’s “The Great Gundown” (1975), the two Charles Bronson movies “Chato’s Land” (1972) and “Chino” (1977) and Chuck Conner’s “Standing Tall” (1978).

Canadian filmmakers made similar movies in the 1960s and 70s. For example, Québécois director Gilles Carle’s film “Red” or “Red the Half-Breed” (1970) chronicles the pain which a Métis man faced because of his mixed heritage. In the late 1970s, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) even got into the act by airing Gregory Bloomfield’s television movie “Riel” (1977) starring Québécois actor Raymond Cloutier in the lead role, with Christopher Plumber as Sir John A. Macdonald. The film also included expatriate Canadian actors William Shatner, Leslie Neilsen and Dave Thomas. Despite being a CBC melodrama, the film managed to make both Riel and Macdonald heroes, without belittling their differing visions of the country.

19 In the 1980s, the Métis began to be portrayed as proud and independent survivors in cinema. Often, Aboriginal filmmakers and actors ensured this transformation. Strong Métis characters appeared in such Canadian films as “Mistress Madeleine” (NFB -1987), “The Wake” (NFB- 1986), “Revenge of the Land” (1999) and Anne Wheeler’s “Loyalties” (1987) staring Tantoo Cardinal. These films all have strong Métis women in starring and supporting roles. These films portray systemic racism against the Métis, the difficulty of being a person living in Euro-Canadian and Aboriginal worlds, and the strength of Métis women. During the 1980s and 90s, such Hollywood actors as Val Kilmer and Billy Bob Thornton portrayed mixed-decent people. However, the most recognizable Métis in popular culture may well be Joseph Dribble from “King of the Hill”. In conclusion, the menacing Métis has disappeared from both Canadian and American cinema. When the Métis does now appear, they do so in a much more positive light than previously. Questions and Activities: 1) What are some aspects of Métis culture that have been taken from the First Nations? 2) What are some aspects of Métis culture that have been taken from French Canadians? 3) How have the Métis made these aspects of their parent cultures their own? List examples such as language, spirituality and music. 4) Why have French Canadians discriminated against the Métis? 5) What are some First Nations against the Métis? 6) Have relations between the First Nations and the Métis always been strained? 7) What role did the Métis play with their two parent cultures: First Nations and French Canadians? Have the Métis been cultural brokers between First Nations and Euro-Canadians? 8) What were some of sterotypes which early Hollywood cinema put on the Métis? What does this say about American and Canadian society at that time? 9) If you have an opportunity, watch several of the movies listed above. Pay particular close attention on how the Métis characters talk, look and act around others. Then compare them to their foil: the Mountie. Why do you think the characters were portrayed so differently? 10) In current cinema, how are the Métis portrayed? Why are the Métis portrayed so differently today than in the past?

20 Sources: Aprice, John, “The Stereotyping of North American Indians in Motion Pictures” in Bataille, Gretchen M. and Silet, Charles, L.P., Editors. The Pretend Indians: Images of Native Americans in the Movies. Ames, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1980, pp. 75-91. Armstrong, Gail Paul, “The Métis, The Development and Decline of Métis Influence in an Early Saskatchewan Community” in Thelma Poirier, Editor. Wood Mountain Uplands: From the Big Muddy to the Frenchman River. Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan: The Wood Mountain Historical Society, 2000, pp. 20- 35. Beal, Bob and Macleod, Rod. Prairie Fire: The 1885 North-West Rebellion. : Hurtig Publishers, 1984, (pp. 122 and 350). Bernier, Serge, “Participation des Canadiens Français aux Combats: Evaluation et Tentative de Qualification,” Bulletin d’histoire politique, Vol. 3, No.3/4, pp. 15-24. Berton, Pierre. Hollywood’s Canada: The Americanization of Our National Image. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1975. Brady, James. The Wisdom of Papasschayo, a Cree Medicine Man. Unpublished essay in the Brady Papers in the collection of the Gabriel Dumont Institute, Saskatoon. Buscombe, Edward, Editor. The BFI Companion to the Western. London: André Deutsch/BFI Publishers, 1988. Cardinal, Harold and Hildebrandt, Walter. Treaty Elders of Saskatchewan: Our Dream is that Our Peoples Will One day Be Clearly Recognized as Nations. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2000. Carter, Sarah. Capturing Women: The Manipulation of Cultural Imagery in Canada’s Prairie West. Montréal and Kingston: McGill and Queen’s University Press, 1997. Chief Electoral Officer – Dominion of Canada. Returns of the Thirteenth General Election (17, December 1917), pp. 241-3,247,282-304,311-314 and 332. Choquette, . The Oblate Assault on Canada’s Northwest. : University of Ottawa Press, 1995. Christensen, Deana. Ahtahkakoop: The Epic Account of a Plains Cree Chief, His People, and their Struggle for Survival, 1816-1896. Shell Lake, Saskatchewan: Ahtahkakoop Publishing, 2000, pp. 135, 147, 189-193 and 400. Chruchill, Ward, Hill, Mary Anne and Hill, Norbert S. Jr., “Examination of Stereotypes: An Analytical Survey of Twentieth-Century Indian Entertainers”, in Bataille et al, The Pretend Indians, pp. 35-48. Chute, Janet E. The Legacy of Shingwakonse: A Century of Native Leadership. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.

21 Delisle, Esther. The Traitor and the Jew: Anti-Semitism and the Delirium of Extremist Right-Wing Nationalism in French Canada, 1929-1939. Toronto and Montréal: Robert Davies Publishing, 1985, pp. 80-81. Dick, Lyle, "The Seven Oaks Incident and the Construction of a Historical Tradition, 1816 to 1970", Journal of the Canadian Historical Association, 1991. Kingston , 1991. Francis, Daniel. National Dreams: Myth, Memory, And Canadian History. : Arsenal Pulp Press, 1997. Francis, Daniel. The Imaginary Indian: The Image of the Indian in Canadian Culture. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 1993. Fremont, Donatien. The Secretaries of Riel. Louis Schmidt (1870), Philippe Garnot, William Henry Jackson. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan: Les editions Louis Riel, 1985. Gagliasso, Dan, “Joe De Young and Hollywood: Charlie Russell’s Protégé on the Celluloid ”, Montana History, Vol. 50, No.3 (Autumn 2000), pp.2-17. Gareau, Laurier. La Trahison/ The Betrayal. Régina: Les éditions de la nouvelle plume, 1998. Gareau, Laurier, "Rosanna Gareau et Philippe Chamberland: Pioners de St-Isidore de Bellevue, Saskatchewan", Revue historique: Une publication de la société historique de la Saskatchewan, Février 1999, pp. 1-7. Gougeon, Gilles.Translated by Louisa Balir, Robert Chodos and Jane Ubertino. A History of Nationalism. Toronto: James Lormier & Company, Publishers, 1994. Higham, Charles. Cecile B. DeMille: A Biography of the Most Successful Film Maker of them All. : Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973. Hubner, Brian and Payment, Diane Paulette “ Légaré, Jean-Louis”, in Ramsay Cook, General Editor, The Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Volume XIV: 1911 to 1920. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999, pp. 640-642. Huel, Raymond, “Living in the Shadow of Greatness: Louis Schmidt, Riel’s Secretary,” Native Studies Review, Vol. 1, 1984, pp. 16-27. Huel, Raymond, “Louis Schmidt: Patriarch of St. Louis,” Saskatchewan History, Vol. 40, No. 1, 1987, pp. 1-21. Huel, Raymond. Proclaiming the Gospel to the Indians and the Métis. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1996. Lavalley, Stella and Jim. Interview with Norman Fleury – April 25, 1999. (Interview in the collection of the Gabriel Dumont Institute). Lavalley, Stella and Jim. Interview with Darren R. Préfontaine – July 27, 1999. (Interview in the collection of the Gabriel Dumont Institute).

22 Ledoux, Maurice. Interview with Norman Fleury – April 25, 1999. (Interview in the collection of the Gabriel Dumont Institute). Longworth, Clementine. Interview with Darren R. Préfontaine – June 22, 1999. (Interview in the collection of the Gabriel Dumont Institute). Lussier, Antoine S. The Métis and the French-Canadians, 1870-1984. Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 1985. Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Recreation. Georges-Antoine Belcourt. Winnipeg: Historic Resources Branch, 1984. Manitoba, Department of Cultural Affairs and Historical resources. The Honourable Joseph Dubuc, K.S.M.G. Winnipeg: Historic Resources Branch, 1981. MacGregor, James. Father Lacombe. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1975. (The) Metis Association of Alberta and Sawchuk, Joe et al. Metis Land Rights in Alberta: A Political History. Edmonton: Métis Association of Alberta, 1981. Pace, sandra Falconer and Deiter, Patricia, Editors. Sunrise: Saskatchewan Elders Speak. Second Edition. Regina Public Schools, 2000. Payment, Diane Paulette. “The Free People: Otipemisiwak”. Batoche, Saskatchewan 1870-1930. Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1990. Price, Richard T. Editor. The Spirit of the Alberta Indian Treaties. Third Edition. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1999, pp. 71,76,78, 95,141, 143,145,148,151,and 209. Ray, Arthur J. Ray, Miller, Jim and Tough Frank. Bounty and Benevolence: A History of the Saskatchewan Treaties. Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000. Riel, Louis in Flanagan, Thomas, Editor. The Collected Writings of Louis Riel/ Les écrits complets de Louis Riel. Volume 3: 1884-1885. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1985, pp. 21-22). Riel, Louis. The Collected Writings of Louis Riel/Les écrits complets. Edited by G.F.G. Stanley, Thomas Flanagan and Claude Rocan. 5 Volumes. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1985. Riel, Louis. Edited by Thomas Flanagan. The Diaries of Louis Riel. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1976. Ritchot, Mgr Noël-Joseph. Texte transcrit par Alfred Fortier, "Les évenments de 1869 à la Rivière-Rouge", Bulletin de la Sociéte historique de Saint-Boniface, Automne 1998, pp. 3-8. Rondeau. Reverend Clovis. Willow Bunch: 1870-1920. Translation of La Montagne de Bois, 1870-1920. Québec: P.E. Roy Printeur, 1923. Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan: Willow Bunch Historical Society, 1970.

23 Ross, Alexander, “Hudson’s Bay Company Versus Sayer”, in Donald Swainson, Editor, Historical Essays on the Prairie Provinces. Toronto: MacClelland and Stewart Limited, 1970, pp. 18-27. Saskatchewan Archives Board. Guide des sources historiques des francophones de la Saskatchewan. Regina: Saskatchewan Archives Board, 1983. Silver, A. I. The French-Canadian Idea of Confederation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. Stonechild, Blair and Waiser, Bill. Loyal Till Death: Indians and the North-West Rebellion. Calgary: Fifth House Publishers, 1997, (pp. 77 and 277) St. Pierre, Mary. Interview with Norman Fleury – April 25, 1999. (Interview in the collection of the Gabriel Dumont Institute). Sugden, John. Tecumseh: A Life. New York: Harry Holt & Company, 1998. Treaty 7 Elders and Tribal Council with Hildebrandt, Walter, Carter, Sarah and First Rider, Dorothy (Editors). The True Spirit and Original Intent of Treaty 7. Montréal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1996, pp. 19-21,60, 69,74,76,81,124,126,133 and 134. Weatherford, Elizabeth, Editor. Native Americans on Film and Video. Museum of the American Indian/ HEYE Foundation. Montpelier: : Capital City Press, 1981. Weatherford, Elizabeth and Seubert, Emelia, Editors. Native Americans on Film and Video. Museum of the American Indian/ HEYE Foundation. Montpelier: Vermont: Capital City Press, 1981. Wetherell, Donald G. and Kmet, Irene. Alberta’s North: A History, 1890-1950. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press, 2000. Willow Bunch Historical Society. Poplar Poles and Wagon Trails. Two Volumes. Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan: Willow Bunch Historical Society, 1998. Zelig Ken and Victoria. Ste.Madeleine: Community Without A Town. Métis Elders in Interview. Winnipeg: Pemmican Publications, 1987. www.eonline.com (E! Online – Movie Facts) www.videoflciks.com

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