Metis Rising: Living Our Present Through the Power of Our Past

Métis Rising draws on a remarkable cross-section of perspectives to tell the histories and stories of people from richly varied backgrounds, demonstrating that there is no single Métis experience – only a common sense of belonging and a commitment to justice.

The contributors to this unique collection, most of whom are Métis themselves, examine often-neglected aspects of Métis existence. They talk about the arduous journey to rebuild the Métis nation from a once-marginalized and defeated people; their accounts ranging from personal reflections on identity to tales of advocacy against poverty and poor housing, and for the recognition of Métis rights.

Métis Rising is an extraordinary work that exemplifies how contemporary Métis identity has been forged into a force to be reckoned with.

Yvonne Boyer is a Michif with her Métis ancestral roots in the Red River. She was the associate director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics, a professor of law at the University of Ottawa, and is the author of Moving Aboriginal Health Forward: Discarding Canada’s Legal Barriers. She was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2018. Larry Chartrand is a citizen of the Métis Nation (Michif), professor emeritus in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa, and a former director of the Indigenous Law Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. He was the principal investigator for a SSHRC research project on Métis treaties that led to Métis Treaties in Canada: Past Realities and Present Promise.

Contributors: Jonathan Anuik, Judith G. Bartlett, Laura-Lee Bellehumeur-Kearns, Curtis Breaton, Paul Chartrand, Leah Dorion, Nathalie Kermoal, Margaret Kress, Catherine Littlejohn, Tricia Logan, Yvonne Poitras Pratt, Allyson Stevenson, and Yvonne Vizina