Description
From New Peoples to New Nations: Aspects of Métis History and Identity from the Eighteenth to Twenty-first Century is a broad historical account of the emergence of the Métis as distinct peoples in North America over the last three hundred years. Examining the cultural, economic, and political strategies through which communities define their boundaries, Gerhard J. Ens and Joe Sawchuk trace the invention and reinvention of Métis identities from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Their work updates, rethinks, and integrates the many disparate aspects of Métis historiography, providing the first comprehensive narrative of Métis identity from the Red River to Ontario in more than fifty years. Based on extensive archival materials, interviews, oral histories, ethnographic research, and first-hand working knowledge of Métis political organizations, From New Peoples to New Nations addresses the long and complex history of Métis identity from the Battle of Seven Oaks to today’s legal and political debates. Gerhard J. Ens is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Alberta. Joe Sawchuk is a professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at Brandon University.