Eastern Métis

Michel Bouchard is professor of anthropology at the University of Northern British Columbia.Sébastien Malette is associate professor in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University, Ottawa.Siomonn Pulla is associate professor in the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Royal Roads University.

This is a challenging book that weighs in on the controversial and divisive debate of who has the right to claim capital "M" Métis status in Canada. The collection assembles essays by scholars of anthropology, sociology, law, history, linguistics, geography, and interdisciplinary studies, purporting to present historical and social evidence of the origins and continued existence of cohesive Métis communities in Ontario, Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and (despite the title) the Pacific Northwest region of Canada. Challenging the "nationalist trope" that only the Red River Métis of the northern Plains can claim Métis identity, this collection directly challenges the perspective of scholars like Jacqueline Peterson, Darryl Leroux, Adam Gaudry, and Jesse Thistle, not to mention the established Canadian legal view asserting that other claims to Métis status are little more than "race shifting"—a tactical use of long-ago racial mixing to reimagine a "Métis" identity and thus assert treaty rights. This book by no means settles the debate, but is nonetheless a thought-provoking contribution to the complicated topic of mixed Indigenous-settler identity, which will undoubtedly continue to spark controversy and inspire further study. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

• Chapter 1: Symbolic Violence against the “Other Métis”: The Making of a New Forgotten People in CanadaChapter 2: Political Ontologies in Turmoil: Métis “Neo-Nationalism” and the “Other Métis”Chapter 3: The Languages of the Métis in Canada Chapter 4: Situating Nova Scotia Métis Identities in a Colonial PastChapter 5: The Acadian Métis on the Geographic and Social MarginsChapter 6: Métissage and Métis Identity in the Gaspé Peninsula: From Its Origins to the 1886 Paspébiac RiotsChapter 7: Undercoat Communities: The Geohistorical Scaling of Métis Identity in the East Chapter 8: “The Lowest Race of Any in Canada”: Mitifs from the Fur Trade and the Voyageurs Parishes of St. Lawrence Valley Chapter 9: Understanding the Impacts of a Transitional and Mixed Regional Economy on the Emergence of the Historic Métis of MattawaChapter 10 : The Voyageur Métis of Penetanguishene: An Examination of the Ethnohistory of the Métis in OntarioChapter 11: The Story of French Canadian Métis Voyageur Joseph Dussa