Metis Culture
Bryce Mercredi
Elder Bryce Mercredi, from Fort Chipewyan shares his Metis regalia and stories with the grade 4 /5 students at Queneesh Elementary School.
Indigenous Themes Kits and Information
Available at the Learning Resource Center, School District 71
Indigenous Themes Kits and Information- compiled by Suzanne Camp, District Cultural Resource Aide- see page 14-18 for Métis specific resources.
Picture Book List
Introduction to Métis Culture
A PowerPoint created locally, by Gail Martindale and Suzanne Camp, to introduce you to the Métis Culture. Notes are included in a separate document.
Introduction to Métis Language
Learn about the Michif language, Métis culture and history, and storytellers. Click here for more information.
Transportation Lesson
This lesson is a hands-on activity where students can explore reasoning and solutions for why people create different types of transportation. The lesson has students brainstorming and problem solving. They will also learn about how the Métis people solved their transportation issues, including the Red River cart and the York boat.
Métis History and Culture Transportation lesson
Tea Time
Gabriel Dumont Institute:
Virtual Métis Museum of Métis History and Culture
Bringing Métis Literature to Life
Bringing Métis Children’s Literature to Life is a guidebook for teachers to support the children’s literature published by Gabriel Dumont Institute (GDI). Not only will teachers be able to teach about the Métis but they will also utilize strategies that foster and promote literacy development (listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing). The stories used in this guidebook are written and illustrated by Métis authors and illustrators. Each story brings traditional and contemporary Métis culture to life. They honour the past and present. Métis children often see themselves in these publications. Non-Métis students will see and connect with the universal themes and relate them to their own lives while learning about Métis culture.
Most importantly, this resource is about engaging readers in the history and traditions of Métis culture through literature. Métis children’s literature is found in classrooms, and in school libraries and public libraries all across Canada. Teachers use the books in various ways to bring awareness of the culture and teach outcomes. However, teachers are not always an “insider” in the culture, and often search for ideas on how to incorporate Métis content into their practice. There is a desire by teachers to be more inclusive, but they may not know how. This resource assists teachers in being culturally responsive while at the same time allowing them to teach provincial outcomes.
Métis Nation of BC
Grade 7 Métis Cross-Curricular Teacher Guide (from Métis Nation of BC)
Grade 7 Metis Cross Curricular Teacher Guide
MIKI’SIW Métis Association
The Métis Nation
The advent of the fur trade in west central North America during the 18th century was accompanied by a growing number of mixed offspring of Indian women and European fur traders. As this population established distinct communities separate from those of Indians and Europeans and married among themselves, a new Aboriginal people emerged – the Métis people – with their own unique culture, traditions, language (Michif), way of life, collective consciousness and nationhood.
http://www.comoxvalleymetis.com/M_tis_People.html
Louis Riel – Heritage Minutes
What thoughts ran through Louis Riel’s mind as he stood on the scaffold, waiting for the trap door to open to his death? Perhaps he thought about the turmoil that surrounded him, a turmoil that still surrounds the controversial Métis leader today. Even now, Louis Riel is a hero to many, a visionary, the fiery leader of a downtrodden people. To others he is a madman, a traitor, or a misguided zealot.
Canadian Encyclopedia Article about Louis Riel
Artists
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Jacqueline Guest, author and artist
Jacqueline is a Metis writer who lives in a log cabin nestled in the pinewoods of the Rocky Mountain foothills of Alberta . Her award winning books are unique in that many of the main characters come from different ethnic backgrounds including First Nations, Inuit or Metis. Her well-drawn characters face issues common to every child such as bullying, blended families and physical challenges and are strong role models for today’s youth. Jacqueline’s historical novels for young readers’ present Canada ’s vibrant past as an exciting read every child will enjoy. Her young adult mysteries address teenage problems in a sensitive way while still providing a great page-turner. |
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Christi Belcourt, Metis Visual Artist
Like generations of Indigenous artists before her, the majority of her work explores and celebrates the beauty of the natural world and traditional Indigenous world-views on spirituality and natural medicines while exploring nature’s symbolic properties. Following the tradition of Metis floral beadwork, Belcourt uses the subject matter as metaphors for human existence to relay a variety of meanings that include concerns for the environment, biodiversity, spirituality and Indigenous rights. Although known primarily as a painter, she has for years been also practicing traditional arts. Working with beads, hides, clay, copper, wool trade cloth and other materials. Most recently with birch bark and harvesting plant fibres and ochre. |
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Lisa Shepard – Metis Artisan
“I am a Canadian who knows that Art documents our story. I am an Artist who respects how our story touches our hearts, and how healing begins with our understanding. I am a Metis Woman who gently acknowledges that this understanding is powerful. The past, the present and the future reverberates along my thread.” |
Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) Education Kits
Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) Education Kits are an excellent resource for students, teachers, educators and community members to use inside and out of the classroom.
Each kit contains a variety of items including a sash, flashcards, fiddle music, a Michif workbook and a timeline of Métis history in Ontario. This is an exciting first step in providing an introduction to Métis history, culture and heritage. The MNO plans to build upon the success of the Education Kit with additional lesson plans and expanded toolkits.
