Metis Federation of Canada (New National Organization)

A new national organization has been formed on Nov 16, 2013. The Metis Federation of Canada interim president Robert Pilon says "The Métis Federation of Canada was formed to recognize, represent and  support Métis citizens across Canada, uniting us from coast to coast to coast.  As a grassroots organization, with representatives from all regions of this country, we are people from varying walks of life who are passionate about our history, our culture and our rights..." 

YouTube – Anglais (Robert Pilon – President): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tx8IkS45Fg

YouTube – Français (David Bouchard – Membre fondateur): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIWPKFVVz1U

YouTube – Anglais (Bob Stevenson – Membre fondateur): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypzGJOXI6kI

Notre project – teaser:

French: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uZPYcdKdTU

Anglais: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQA2zU-KOfA

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Metisfederationofcanada) and Twitter (@metisfederation). 

The founding members are Robert Pilon, David Bouchard, Karole Dumont-Beckett, Theresa Lizotte, Dan Goodon, Hélène I Savard, Bob Stevenson, Alfred Chiasson, Daryle Desjarlais, Daniel Gilbeau, Ray Racicot, Bill Gabbani, Jim Laroche, and Deborah Bastien.

Good luck to this group of people and the cause they hold dear. It will be difficult challenging the current power structures. 

 

Preserving the History of Aboriginal Institutional Development in Winnipeg

Indian & Métis Friendship Centre, Winnipeg

I had an opportunity to speak with researchers Darrell Chippaway and Larry Morrisette about their work cataloguing and preserving the history of Aboriginal organizations in Winnipeg. This is a SSHRC funded project combining the expertise of the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg, Aboriginal Community Groups and organizations and various Elders. The researchers including Kathy Mallett, Evelyn Peters and John Loxley are attempting to gather the reports, records, meeting minutes, notes and photos from as far back as the 1960s Aboriginal institutions. Many of the principal Aboriginal organizations started in the 1960s, but because they have been attempting to build their programming they have not put resources to documenting their past. The Western Scientific empiric-historical method of writing about history often excludes histories that have not been written. This preservation of the archives of these organizations will show the development of Aboriginal agency within our great city.

We spent time discussing the history of the school of Children of the Earth, the Winnipeg Indian and the Métis Friendship Center (started in 1958 and run by a Board of non-Aboriginal peoples (Moonyas)). The ignoring of urban Aboriginal people by too many researchers (often searching for the last exotic tribe for the kernels of past truth) is being rectified by this collective of academics. 

To Learn More (Podcast & Interview)

http://archive.org/download/UrbanAboriginalHistoryProjectMixdown/urban%20aboriginal%20history%20project%20mixdown.mp3 

Academics say cuts to Aboriginal organizations are hurting crucial research projects

Open letter from Academics sent to the Minister of INAC

Exchange in the House of Commons Hansard

http://openparliament.ca/debates/2012/11/22/jean-crowder-6/

November 22, 2012

The Hon. John Duncan

Minister

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

Ottawa, ON

K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Duncan:

We are writing to express our dismay over unprecedentedly deep funding cuts for Canada’s Aboriginal Representative Organizations, including the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and tribal councils across the country. This follows the forced closure of the National Aboriginal Health Organization. As researchers, we work with these organizations and others in research partnerships to tackle some of the most pressing issues Canada faces. Grant funding agencies supported by your government consistently identify Aboriginal research as one of the top priorities for research in Canada. They also make it clear that this research can only be done in partnership with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.

As minister, you are well aware of the health, education and infrastructure issues that are preventing Canadian First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities from reaching their full potential. Innovative research partnerships between the people affected and the brightest minds at Canadian universities offer hope for resolving these issues in an effective and fiscally responsible way. In many cases, these bright young minds are First Nations citizens themselves.

We partner with the organizations whose funding you have cut on practical issues such as clean drinking water and community planning. We also partner with individual First Nations that rely on these umbrella organizations for training and support that enables them to engage meaningfully in research. Dedicated staff at these larger organizations, with whom we have developed relationships over years, are named as co-applicants and collaborators on our research grants. However, these people may not be able to carry through on their commitments because they may lose their jobs.

The potential loss of expertise is staggering and could take a generation to recover. Canada cannot afford to wait another generation for solid research on urgent issues. We urge you to rethink these ill-advised cuts to organizations that have been doing excellent work in their communities that benefits Canada as a whole.

Sincerely,