A map of Métis territory sparks reactions online

Posted On: January 24, 2024

A new map showing Métis Territory is drawing the ire of First Nations people who live there because it completely covers three provinces, merges into two more and includes part of the Northwest Territories.

The map adopted by the Métis National Council includes Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and also covers northeastern British Columbia and southwestern Northwest Territories and Ontario.

Shortly after the map's release, comments flooded social media emphasizing that “the bruise” is encroaching on other First Nations' lands and that what is “claimed” there does not belong to the Métis.

A question of identity, not country

According to Will Goodon, housing minister for the Manitoba Métis Federation, the map is not intended to take over a territory but to help the Métis government determine who is actually part of the community.

This became necessary due to certain situations in Nova Scotia and Quebec.

The problem, he explains, is that some people in the east of the country describe themselves as mixed race.

“We are co-opting all of our cultural symbols,” Mr Goodon claims, “it’s dangerous and that’s why we thought about publishing this map.”

Significant increase

The 2016 census reported a 51.2% increase in the country's Métis population. The number of people identifying as Métis increased by 150% in Quebec and 125% in Nova Scotia between 2006 and 2016.

The Métis National Council therefore intends to use this map to distinguish who is truly a member of the nation and who is not.

However, Will Goodon clarifies that citizens of the nation who have a connection to traditional territories “are protected by Métis governments regardless of where they live.”

Need for validation

When Chief Lynn Acoose of Sakimay First Nation in Saskatchewan saw the map, she immediately wondered whether it had anything to do with the framework for recognizing and implementing Aboriginal rights.

“They want to limit the definition of who is a Métis in order to limit the number of beneficiaries of the agreements they negotiate with the federal government,” she explains.

However, Ms. Acoose sees this as a strategy by Ottawa aimed at dividing the First Nations in order to better dominate them.

We are part of one big family that does not separate the Métis and the First Nations.

Manitoba Métis Federation Housing Minister Will Goodon agrees. “If you look at the Métis of the three provinces [de la carte]“They’re all connected,” he explains.

With information from Lenard Monkman