Language: Cultural Names and Colonial Definitions

A Note on Terminology 

Following the lead of historians Jacqueline Peterson and Jennifer S. H. Brown who wrote one of the first extensive works on Metis history, identity and communal diversity, this exhibit uses the capitalized ‘Metis’ that refers to the distinct cultural and linguistic group, as opposed to the lower-case spelling that signifies mixed ancestry alone. [1]

In addition, the well-known French spelling is not used in this exhibit in order to be inclusive of those with British heritage. It is important to note that persons of Indigenous-British heritage — either English or Scottish — were historically referred to as ‘Half-Breed’ or ‘country-born,’ even in an official capacity by the Canadian government throughout the ninteenth and early twentieth centuries. [2] Some, including scholar Gregg Dahl, still use the term 'Half-Breed' as their preferred form of self-identification. [3] 

Historically speaking, the term 'métis' was used as a means of reference for persons of mixed ancestry, often Indigenous and European; although, over the course of the twentieth century, the capitalized form of 'Metis' became inextricably tied to the distinct Metis nation, culture and languages — Michif and Bungi — that were born out of the fur trade. [4] Additionally, a variety of other terms such as “Bois-Brulés, Brulés, Métifs, or Half-Bloods” were used to refer to “[p]ersons descended from Indian women by white men" the majority of whom were typically in the employ of the North-West Company. [5] 

While these terms were in common use throughout the ninteenth and early twentieth centuries, there was never any legality associated with them. As Ens and Sawchuk note, the term 'Half-Breed' itself was an identifier of a person's biological makeup — in this case, being of mixed heritage — and was not defined under colonial legislation. [6]

Over the course of several decades since the late twentieth century, there has gradually been attempts to establish some form of definition for 'Métis/Metis' in legislation. This began with the Constitution Act of 1982 that defined Aboriginal as being "the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada” under section 35(2). [7] Twenty years later, the Métis National Council General Assembly adopted its own "National Definition" of 'Metis-ness' that emphasized the importance of individual self-identification: 

"'Métis' means 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". [8]

Though, the 2002 definition from the Métis National Council General Assembly was never implemented in any legislative fashion and merely existed as criteria for membership in the Métis Nation.  The following year witnessed the first attempts from the Canadian State to provide a clear definition of 'Métis/Metis' in legislation. This came as a result of the landmark Supreme Court case, R. v. Powley in 2003 that acknowledged the inaccuracy of identifying as 'Métis/Metis' on the basis of "mixed Indian and European heritage" alone. [9] In the course of arriving at a decision, the Supreme Court judges recognized the 'Métis/Metis' as having "a distinctive collective identity" that was predicated on the "three broad factors" of "self-identification, ancestral connection, and community acceptance" in order to claim 'Métis/Metis' rights under the previously mentioned section 35 of the Constitution. [10] Yet, the somewhat ambiguous definition of 'Métis/Metis' that came out of the R. v. Powley proceedings gave rise to a new phenomenon that scholars refer to as "settler self-indigenization". [11] The term is representative of the massive increase in the number of individuals self-identifying as Métis/Metis in the wake of 2003 which, by and large, was predicated on the 'discovery' of a long-lost Indigenous ancestor through whom their proof of indigeneity could be derived.   

Moving across the world...

The term 'Half-Caste' was historically used in relation to mixed-race peoples across the British Empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but most especially in Australia. The term was applied most often to persons with an Indigenous mother and a British father, just like the English Metis or 'country born' in Canada. [12] 

The term is now considered highly offensive and derogatory as a result of its ties to colonialism and the 'breeding out' initiatives that took place within various states and territories of Australia. Therein, the use of said term is by no means with the intent to offend, cause any undue distress to or re-traumatize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

The term 'Half-Caste' appears throughout this exhibit in a strictly offical capacity, since it was a legal term applied to the mixed-race populations within Australia's territorial boundaries; however, in keeping with the awareness of scholars Kathy Mills and Tony Austin, the term itself will only appear enclosed with single quotations in recognition of its derogatory usage in the past and my own objection to the colonial treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. [13]

Today, there are two distinct cultural groups that make up Australia's Indigenous population: Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples. [14] This official recognition largely began in 1981 with a proposal from the Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs that defined "a person of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent" as someone "who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which [they live]”. [15]

Insight from Metis and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Academics

Both Metis and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are distinct groups with distinct cultures, customs and languages. Thus, an individual with mixed ancestry alone cannot accurately be considered Metis or 'Half-Caste'. This is a reality that both Canadian and Australian scholars have written about at great length, arguing that the acceptance of those who self-identify without actually practicing any aspects of the specific culture represents a serious threat to the continued vitality and distinctiveness of the Indigenous communities. 

In the Canadian context, historian Brenda Macdougall emphasizes the inherent duality of Metis culture that was derived from the coalescence of their First Nations and European heritage that morphed over time into a distinct Metis community built upon the shared values of family, homeland, and traditional economy. [16] Macdougall notes the application of 'Metis' to persons with only a trace of Indigenous ancestry is erroneous and completely diminishes the significance of those with actual ties to the Metis Nation. [17] 

"It is the sharing of these types of historical processes as a community of people that defines the Metis, not the degree of Indian blood in their veins or number of Indians in the family tree". [18]

This idea of familial and communal bonds is also evidently important for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within the Australian context. Academic Mark McMillan acknowledges his personal status as a “court-ruled Aborigine" but objects to the legal definition as the one and only determinant of his identity. [19] According to McMillan, the "'legal' test [does not] make anyone a blackfella. What makes [him] black and gives [him] that identity as a Wiradjuri man is [his] family, [his] community and the Wiradjuri nation". [20]

Footnotes

[1] Jacqueline Peterson, and Jennifer S. H. Brown, The New Peoples: Being and Becoming Métis in North America, Illustrated, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2001, https://books.google.ca/books?id=q8qervZ6nakC&dq=Metis+in+the+United+States&source=gbs_navlinks_s, accessed November 14, 2020.

[2] Library and Archives Canada, “Métis Scrip Records: Use of Term Half-Breed,” March 2012, https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/metis-scrip/005005-4000-e.html, accessed November 19, 2020.

[3] Gregg Dahl, “A Half-Breed’s Perspective on Being Métis,” in Métis in Canada: History, Identity, Law & Politics, eds. Christopher Adams, Ian Peach, and Gregg Dahl (University of Alberta Press, 2014): 94. 

[4] Peter Bakker, and Robert A. Papen, “Michif and Other Languages of the Canadian Métis,” Gabriel Dumont Institute, May 2003, Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research, 1.

[5] Andrew Amos, “Report of Trials in the Courts of Canada, Relative to the Destruction of the Earl of Selkirk’s Settlement on the Red River: With Observations,” London, 1820, University of Alberta: Peel’s Prairie Provinces.

[6] Gerhard J. Ens, and Joe Sawchuk, From New Peoples to New Nations: Aspects of the Metis History and Identity from the Eighteenth to the Twenty-First Centuries (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015): 26. 

[7] “Part II: Rights of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada,” 1982, Government of Canada: Justice Laws Website, https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-16.html, accessed December 26, 2020.

[8] Métis Nation, “Citizenship,” n.d., https://www2.metisnation.ca/about/citizenship/, accessed November 19, 2020.

[9] R. v. Powley, [2003] 2 S.C.R. 207, No. 28533 (Supreme Court of Canada September 19, 2003): 208. 

[10] R. v. Powley, [2003] 2 S.C.R. 207, No. 28533 (Supreme Court of Canada September 19, 2003): 224. 

[11] Michel Hogue, “Still Hiding in Plain Sight?: Historiography and Métis Archival Memory,” History Compass 18 (2020): 8. 

[12] Vicki Luker, “The Half-Caste in Australia, New Zealand, and Western Samoa between the Wars: Different Problem, Different Places?” in Foreign Bodies: Oceania and the Science of Race, 1750-1940, eds. Bronwen Douglas and Chris Ballard (Canberra: ANU ePress, 2008): 311.

[13] Kathy Mills, and Tony Austin, “‘Talking About Cruel Things’: Girls’ Life in the Kahlin Compound, by Daisy Ruddick as Told to Kathy Mills and Tony Austin,” Hecate 15, no. 1 (May 1989): 1. 

[14] Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, “Indigenous Australians: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People,” n.d., https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/articles/indigenous-australians-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people, accessed November 14, 2020.

[15] Australian Law Reform Commission, “Essentially Yours: The Protection of Human Genetic Information in Australia (ALRC Report 96),” Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, May 2003, Australian Government: Australian Law Reform Commission, https://www.alrc.gov.au/publication/essentially-yours-the-protection-of-human-genetic-information-in-australia-alrc-report-96/36-kinship-and-identity/legal-definitions-of-aboriginality/, accessed November 19, 2020.

[16] Nicole St-Onge, Carolyn Podruchny, and Brenda Macdougall, Contours of a People: Metis Family, Mobility, and History, vol. 6, New Directions in Native American Studies (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2012): 18; 451. 

[17] Nicole St-Onge, Carolyn Podruchny, and Brenda Macdougall, Contours of a People: Metis Family, Mobility, and History, vol. 6, New Directions in Native American Studies (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2012): 422-423. 

[18] Nicole St-Onge, Carolyn Podruchny, and Brenda Macdougall, Contours of a People: Metis Family, Mobility, and History, vol. 6, New Directions in Native American Studies (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2012): 423. 

[19] Mark McMillan, and Cosima McRae, “Law, Identity and Dispossession – the Half-Caste Act of 1886 and Contemporary Legal Definitions of Indigeneity in Australia,” in Indigenous Communities and Settler Colonialism: Land Holding, Loss and Survival in an Interconnected World, eds. Zoë Laidlaw and Alan Lester (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015): 242-243.

[20] Mark McMillan, and Cosima McRae, “Law, Identity and Dispossession – the Half-Caste Act of 1886 and Contemporary Legal Definitions of Indigeneity in Australia,” in Indigenous Communities and Settler Colonialism: Land Holding, Loss and Survival in an Interconnected World, eds. Zoë Laidlaw and Alan Lester (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015): 242-243.

Language: Cultural Names and Colonial Definitions