Contours of a People: Metis Family, Mobility, and History (New Directions in Native American Studies Series)

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Description

What does it mean to be Metis? How do the Metis remember their world, and how do circle of relatives, community, and location shape their consciousness? Such questions inform this selection of essays on the northwestern North American people of mixed European and Native ancestry who emerged in the seventeenth century as a distinct culture. Volume editors Nicole St-Onge, Carolyn Podruchny, and Brenda Macdougall go beyond the concern with race and ethnicity that takes center stage in most discussions of Metis culture to offer new ways of thinking about Metis identity.


Geography, mobility, and circle of relatives have all the time defined Metis culture and society. The Metis world spanned the better a part of a continent, and a major theme of Contours of a People is the Metis conception of geography—not only how Metis people used their environments but how they gave meaning to place and developed connections to a couple of landscapes. Their geographic familiarity, physical and social mobility, and maintenance of circle of relatives ties across time and space seem to have evolved in connection with the fur trade and other commercial endeavors. These efforts, and the cultural practices that emerged from them, have contributed to a sense of community and the nationalist sentiment felt by many Metis as of late.


Writing about a wide geographic area, the contributors believe issues ranging from Metis rights under Canadian law and how the Library of Congress categorizes Metis scholarship to the role of women in maintaining economic and social networks. The authors’ emphasis on geography and its power in shaping identity will influence and enlighten Canadian and American scholars across quite a few disciplines.


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