Author Description

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,5, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, course: Ethnic minorities in Canada, language: English, abstract: The paper deals with cultural, historical and social aspects of today’s Métis in Canada. The intention is to describe and evaluate Métis cultural achievements and to prove that the Métis are a unique and distinctive people whose culture, which has been long oppressed and marginalized, is precious and equal to the culture of Canada’s First Nations. The structure is subordinated to the aim. After some introductory demographic data, I want to present the most important cultural features which still influence the life of Métis in Canada. In a further step I focus on the marginalized situation of the Métis, and finally their achieve-ments and the newest judicial success will be discussed before an evaluation of the results of my research finishes the paper. Although the Métis are enjoying increasing attentions from scholars due to their latest achievements in the struggle for recognition, there is still no up to date standard work about them. Magosci offers the best overview of the Métis and their culture , whereas the special-ized Troupe describes the Métis clothing and a detailed description of the struggle for recog-nition is supplied by Howard Adams, who was the first Métis intellectual. For the latest demographic developments and legal cases, the internet and especially Canadian government websites have been a reliable source.