Welsh, Christine. “Voices of the Grandmothers: Reclaiming a Métis Heritage.” Canadian Literature 131.131 (1991): 15.

“Voices of the Grandmothers: Reclaiming a Métis Heritage.” is an article written by Christine Welsh about her acceptance of her Métis background through the oral stories and histories she compiled while researching Métis heritage. Christine Welsh is an Associate Professor at the University of Victoria and a Métis documentary filmmaker and writer. Welsh’s article in Canadian Literature is about the importance of native oral history “as an ancient yet viable form of human discourse that encompasses the entire story of a people, both past and present”.

“Voices of the Grandmothers: Reclaiming a Métis Heritage.” is extremely evocative of the importance of oral traditions. The article is based on Welsh’s discovery of her own appreciation for her heritage and the culmination in a lifetime of work geared towards spreading Métis voices. Welsh brings up the idea that what we would define as myths are in fact “the embodiment of history as native people perceive it”  an important revelation that helps us understand the importance of stories for Métis peoples. Story-telling leads to story-writing as we strive to put our narratives and history into writing. Welsh’s article looks at her research into her own ancestry and by understanding her own background she begins to learn about others. Welsh looks at how loss of language, due to children being removed from their families to be “educated”, and how these children were thus unable to understand their stories, and their heritage. Welsh outlines the need to “record and preserve this tradition” in order to help children and descendants understand these stories and myths. Welsh uses the example of her ancestor, Margaret Taylor, as an example of how her voice was lost because she left no written record and Welsh was thus left to rely on secondary sources and records in order to find out about her life. It is stories, learnt from others, from books, and from family members which help us learn about our heritage.

Welsh’s article is extremely important in looking at both the importance of oral traditions and the importance of writing these down in order to preserve them so that others can learn and remember them. According to Welsh native women are “engaged in creating a new history, our history, using our own voices and experiences. And as we raise our voices — as we write, sing, teach, make films — we do so with the certainty that we are speaking not only for ourselves but for those who came before us whom history has made mute” (Welsh 24).

Works Cited

LaRoque, Emma. “The Métis in English Canadian Literature.” The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 3.1 (1983): 85.

McGonegal, Julie. “Reimagining Canada: An Interview with Joseph Boyden on Metis Identity, Storytelling, and Public History.” Postcolonial Text 7.2 (2012): 8.

Brown, Jennifer S. H. “Métis.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Ed. Adam Gaudry. Historica Canada, 01 July 2009. Web. 10 Aug. 2015.

Jennifer S. H. Brown’s article for the Canadian Encyclopedia, titled simply “Métis” is a starting point for our investigations into Métis stories and writing. The Canadian Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia which allows everyone to learn about Canada, its people, and its history. Jennifer S. H. Brown is a Professor of History at the University of Winnipeg and was the Canada Research Chair for Aboriginal Peoples and Histories in 2004. The articles was revised by Adam Gaudry, an Assistant Professor at the University of Sasatchewan who is also Métis. Due to the unique pairing of Brown and Gaudry this article is not only indicative of Métis history and identity from the perception of a non-Métis individual, but also that of a Métis individual.

While Brown begins by defining Métis as “people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry” the article shows us more than simple definitions by going systematically through history. Brown and Gaudry look at different Métis communities, for example the Great Lakes Communities and the Western Métis and their individual histories. The article emphasizes that “Métis identity is not simply the result of a dual heritage, but rather a matter of possessing a singular cultural heritage of dual origins”. Thus highlighting that there is no single definition of Métis, that it is a more “fluid” (Peressini 87) definition depending on one’s history and identity. To be Métis means to have “Métis heritage” even if one is of Cree and French-Canadian descent. In order to look at Métis stories it is important to understand this kind of information especially for someone who may not have previous knowledge of the Métis community and its history. The article not only outlines Métis history but draws the reader into the present with the Daniels v. Canada case – an appeal by Métis leader, Harry Daniels – and its potential far reaching consequences with regards to modern day Métis organizations. The historical narrative provided by this article

This article is integral to beginning research about Métis writings by giving the reader a summarized but descriptive overview of Métis history. It also helps one realize that Métis history and identity is complex and intricate and, as evidenced by the comments, cannot be defined in one way. It helps one to understand the idea of “belonging in more than one place, time, memory, and body” (McCall 38) by showing the many aspects of Canada. As communities move, disperse, and change so do peoples’ experiences and this article allows us a view of different Métis communities. The addition of comments at the bottom of the article also allow the reader to see the differences in Métis identity and its definition. In order to understand where stories and writings come from it is important to first understand the history and identity of the people who write them.

Works Cited

Chartrand, Larry N., Tricia E. Logan, and Judy D. Daniels. Métis History and Experience and Residential Schools in Canada. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2006. Print.

Peressini, Sabrina. “From ‘Great Lakes Metis’ to ‘Aboriginal People of Canada’: The Changing Identity of Canadian Metis During the Eighteenth, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.” The Canadian Student Journal of Anthropology 14.1 (2000): 87-107. Print.

Vowel, Chelsea. “You’re Métis? So Which of Your Parents Is an Indian?” Web log post. âpihtawikosisân. WordPress, 20 Dec. 2011. Web. 10 Aug. 2015.

This blog post encapsulates the idea of Métis identity through the eyes of a Métis person. Her blog post answers questions – that people have asked her and that she has answered herself – about the complexities of Métis identity and the distinctions between different perceptions of Métis which allow us a clearer idea of what it means to be Métis.