Métis

The Métis are the descendants of mixed First Nations and European people, either French-Métis or Anglo-Métis (mostly Scottish or English).  The most historically documented are those from the fur trading days in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  Many fur traders and trappers married Indian women, not only for protection her tribe could offer him, but for skills to survive the harsh northern winters. The Métis have a deep-rooted culture in Canada and parts of the US.

If your ancestor was descended from an early Métis family, there are some records online, and other places you can do research. There are many books in French and in English if you want to learn more. You may notice that on Census forms many declared themselves as being white. Old fur trader Augustin Nolin's children had been sent for schooling in Montreal, and his 2 daughters Angelique and Marguerite started the first school for girls in western Canada at St Bonifice in 1829.

In the mid 1800’s the Canadian government offered Scrip to the Métis people, which was good for acres of land or money at $1.00 an acre.  You can read about this in some of the links below. This collection of records is not complete but the affidavits for scrip can be used as proof of birth when there is no birth record to be found.

Relevant Links:

Metis culture 1750-1790

Images of original scrip affidavits at LAC 

Glenbow Museum - Metis files

History of the North West

Genealogy of the first Metis Nation: Red River households 1818-1870

Half-breed Scrip of the Red Lake and Pembina Bands of Chippewa and the US

Voyageur Heritage Resources

Half-Breed Scrip; Chippewas of Lake Superior

Michigan Land Grants  (free e-book - American State Papers)

1836 Mixed Blood Census Register (Michigan)

Saskatchewan Metis

Lines Drawn Upon the Water

Families of the Northwest Resistance

Census of Natives across Canada (not indexed)

Voyages and travels of an Indian interpreter and trader, : describing the manners and customs of the North American Indians; with an account of the posts situated on the river Saint Laurence, Lake Ontario, &c. : To which is added, a vocabulary of the Chippeway language. Names of furs and skins, in English and French. A list of words in the Iroquois, Mohegan, Shawanee, and Esquimeaux tongues, and a table, shewing the analogy between the Algonkin and Chippeway languages – 1791

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