Review of The Long Journey of a Forgotten People: Metis Identities and Family Histories Edited by Ute Lischke and David T. McNab; The Western Metis: Profile of a People Edited by Patrick C. Douaud

Authors

Mike Evans, University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Date of this Version

2009

Citation

Great Plains Quarterly Vol. 29, No. 3, Summer 2009, pp. 237-239

Comments

Copyright 2009 by the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska- Lincoln

Abstract

The recent publication of Long Journey and Western Metis is indicative of the burgeoning interest in Metis studies; there are a remarkable number of scholars, new and old, now publishing in the area. It seems likely that this burst of activity is related to the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Powley, 2003, S.c.c. 43 (http://www.canliLorg/en/ca/scc/ doc/2003/2003scc43/2003scc43.html) dealing with the complex issues of Metis identity and rights.

Though the impetus for the publications might be linked to a common legal event, the publications themselves are very different: The Western Metis is a collection well rooted in an older historiography of the Metis, while The Long Journey is very much located on the margins of that historiography. Not unlike the Powley decision itself, The Long Journey outlines new scope for contemporary Metis studies.