Fort Providence Métis Council Launches Publication
Since 1921: The Relationship between Dehcho Métis and Canada
Fort Providence, NT (June 30th, 2007) - The Métis Council is pleased to announce the launching of our book on Wednesday June 27th at the Dehcho Assembly in Fort Simpson. Subsequent distribution of this publication will take place during the summer and fall of 2007. Written by Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox and the Fort Providence Métis Council, academic, archival, and oral history research associated with this project has been ongoing since 2001. Funding was provided by the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and a contribution from the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.
Aimed at the general public, Métis descendants and particularly at Métis youth, the publication provides an overview of Dehcho Métis history, in the context of the Dehcho Métis relationship with Canada. During 1921, Canada sent its "Treaty 11 Halfbreed Scrip Commission" to the Dehcho and other regions of the NWT, which sought the release and surrender of Métis Aboriginal rights on an individual basis in exchange for the issuance of scrip. That year marked the beginning of a Canadian Aboriginal policy approach to Métis which simultaneously stripped Métis of Aboriginal rights, while instituting more oppressive elements of Aboriginal policy upon Métis peoples, such as residential schools and social marginalization. The book documents these experiences and their implications for the development of Métis identity and cultural practice as well as present day relations between Dehcho Métis and Canada.
However, the book is also a celebration of the vitality, strength and independence of Métis peoples and culture, and in particular the role of the Métis in the political, social, and economic development of the Dehcho region and NWT generally. The book profiles several Métis Elders and ancestors, and provides descriptions of the relationships between Métis and Dene peoples, missionaries, explorers, and traders. An overview of Métis political development is also provided, with particular attention being paid to current negotiations between Canada and the Dehcho Métis as full members of the Dehcho First Nations negotiating a lands and governance agreement with Canada. The book concludes with a series of policy recommendations to governments for restituting injustices and providing Métis with opportunities to meaningfully engage in ongoing capacity building and reconstituting the relationship between Canada and Dehcho Métis as a mutually negotiated and respectful partnership.
For more information or to request copies please contact:
Albert J. Lafferty
Project Lead - Dehcho Métis Book
Fort Providence Métis Council
Ph: 867.699.4320, Fax: 867.699.4319, Email: pvmetis(at)@airware.ca