We think of Metis as having exclusively Prairie roots. Quebec doesn't recognize a historical Metis community, and the Metis National Council contests the existence of any Metis east of Ontario. Quebec residents who seek recognition as Metis under the Canadian Constitution therefore face an uphill legal and political battle. Who is right?

Bois-Brules examines archival and ethnographic evidence to piece together a riveting history of Metis in the Outaouais region. Scottish and French-Canadian fur traders and Indigenous women established themselves with their Bois-Brule children in the unsurveyed lands of western Quebec in the early nineteenth century. As the fur trade declined, these communities remained.

This controversial work, previously available only in French, challenges head-on two powerful nationalisms - Metis and Quebecois - that see Quebec Metis as "race-shifting" individuals. The authors provide a nuanced analysis of the historical basis for a distinctly Metis identity that can be traced all the way to today.

About the Author

Michel Bouchard is a professor of anthropology at the University of Northern British Columbia and secretary of the World Council of Anthropological Associations. He co-authored Songs upon the Rivers: The Buried History of the French-Speaking Canadiens and Metis from the Great Lakes and the Mississippi across to the Pacific (with Robert Foxcurran and Sebastien Malette) and Les Bois-Brules de l'Outaouais: Une etude ethnoculturelle des Metis de la Gatineau (with Malette and Guillaume Marcotte).

Sebastien Malette is an associate professor of law and legal studies at Carleton University and a member of the university's Indigenous Education Council. He co-authored Songs upon the Rivers: The Buried History of the French-Speaking Canadiens and Metis from the Great Lakes and the Mississippi across to the Pacific (with Michel Bouchard and Robert Foxcurran) and Les Bois-Brules de l'Outaouais: Une etude ethnoculturelle des Metis de la Gatineau (with Bouchard and Guillaume Marcotte).

Guillaume Marcotte is an independent scholar and historian. He is the author of Les francophones et la traite des fourrures du Grand Temiscamingue: Un dictionnaire biographique, 1760-1870 and co-author of Les Bois-Brules de l'Outaouais: Une etude ethnoculturelle des Metis de la Gatineau (with Michel Bouchard and Sebastien Malette). He has also published in a variety of scholarly journals and has been studying the Hudson's Bay Company Archives for over a decade.

Reviews
Methodologically, this is a fascinating exploration. -- S. Perreault, Red Deer College * CHOICE *



Book Information
ISBN 9780774862332
Author Michel Bouchard
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press