Métis

For the Métis Nation of Canada, see Métis people (Canada).

A métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial. The term is French, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish. In the Western Hemisphere, this term usually is used to describe someone born or descended from the union of a European and an Aboriginal. However, the term has been used by other groups around the world, mostly in countries which were under French influence such as Vietnam and is still commonly used by Francophones today.

In Canada, the term usually designates a constitutionally recognized individual born of an ethnic group descended primarily from the marriages of Scottish and French men to Cree, Saulteaux, and Ojibway women in southern Rupert's Land starting in the late 17th century, and the marriages of French women to Ojibway men starting in Quebec in the middle 17th century . Their constitutional rights are represented by a growing number of organisations in Canada, such as the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) and the US, including the Métis National Council. The MNC voices issues (mainly of self-government) directly to the Government of Canada and internationally, but these issues are usually limited to the Métis of the western regions of Canada. Other Canadian organisations serving Métis interests include the Council of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada and the newly started Council of Diaspora Métis, an organisation serving Métis people living outside of North America, usually within the territory of the European Union.

Métis

See also