The Métis Archival Project (MAP): Charting Métis History
By Kathy Garnsworthy
“The first national transport system was the voyageur canoe and the York boat, not the CPR rail.”
—Dr Frank Tough, project director, Métis Archival Project
Frank Tough, project director of the Métis Archival Project at the University of Alberta, sees his work in documenting Métis history as a community service for a group of people whose contributions to Canadian history are largely unknown.
“The Métis are an outcome of the fur trade, integral to the fur trade, and the fur trade in my view (although I didn’t originate this idea) is foundational to Canada.”
Métis National Council Historical Online Database
The Métis Archival Project (MAP) sheds light on this historical experience in part through the database it produces and maintains, the Métis National Council Historical Online Database.
1. What's in the Database?
The database includes three main types of documents: Scrip applications, census documents, and Manitoba Declarations.
In the 1880s, the Canadian government started issuing Métis scrip—designed to extinguish the Aboriginal title of the Métis by giving them a certificate redeemable for land or money.
The 1901 census categorized people by race.
As Frank Tough explains, “Aboriginal people were given an ‘R’ for ‘red,’ and they were then further classified as ‘French breeds’ or ‘Cree breeds’ or ‘Scottish breeds.’”
Although a racialized document by today's standards, the 1901 Census’ data categories can help to identify an historical Métis population.
With the aim of extinguishing Métis land title, Section 31 of the Manitoba Act granted 1.4 million acres to the children of Métis families living in the province at the time Rupertsland was transferred to Canada (July 15, 1870).
To receive a share of the 1.4 million acres Métis people had complete affidavits. These affidavits contain information about the applicant’s family, occupation, marital status, children, and residence.
2. How is the Database Important in Land Claims Settlements?
In addition to providing important genealogical and geographical information, these types of records have another very practical purpose—to supply the information needed to prove Métis ancestry in land claims and harvesting rights settlements.
For example, in the still unfinished land claim for northwestern Saskatchewan, a 2003 decision declared that the Métis were Aboriginal people with Aboriginal rights.
By using the archival records on the Métis National Council database, people can prove their Métis ancestry with objective and verifiable information.
A Training Ground for Future Researchers
Dr Tough says that the MAP initiative has been a training ground in research for many University of Alberta undergraduates:
“We’ve had over 100 undergraduates and recent graduates go through the lab.
“We also employ a fair number of people who stay with us after they graduate. The lab is kind of a ‘half-way house’—they’re still at university, they’re making money, but it’s not the real world—it’s still fun.”
Métis History in Understanding the Development of Canada
Dr Tough sees documenting the Métis experience as an integral part of understanding the development of Canada: “Every part of the country trapped beaver at some point or was engaged in the fur trade. As Harold Innis said, the Northwest Company was the forerunner of Confederation.”
“The reason that Canada is Canada is because of the fur trade...Innis said that that part of North America that remained British was the part where the fur trade was important.
“The first national transport system was the voyageur canoe and the York boat, not the CPR rail.”
MAP receives project-by-project funding from several sources, including the Métis National Council. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Prairie Métis Leaders Forum also supported database activity directed towards “Putting the Métis Back on the Map: An Historical Geography of the Métis Nation, 1870-1901.” Additionally, the principal investigator and graduate/undergraduate students participate in the archival component of the Otipimsuak Project, which is supported by the Community University Research Alliance SSHRC.