Image from: Edmonton Journal
Tansi Nîtôtemtik,
Today we turn to discuss the principles underlying Métis governance and highlight how the interaction of these principles has supported the Métis Nations’ right to remain ka tipaymishooyahk (“We who own ourselves”). The Métis mobilized through political organization and its mechanisms in asserting this right and achieving self-determination and self-government.[1] The creation of local, provincial, and national organizations, and the accompanying governance structures stemming from these grassroots movements, has resulted in what has become collectively referred to as nootr goovarnimaan di Michif (“Our Métis government”).[2] Recently, Kelly Saunders and Janique Dubois have argued that the Métis governance structure and its adaptation over time demonstrates a commitment to five unifying principles for the Métis: freedom, kinship, democracy, the rule of law, and provisionality.[3]
Ki tipemishoonaan (“We Are Free”)
Freedom and autonomy are values that have been associated with the Métis from the beginning.[4] Alexander Ross, one of Canada’s earliest historians, noted in 1856, “[The Métis] cherish freedom as they cherish life.”[5] Freedom has both an individual dimension, rooted in the happiness and pride of each person, as well as a collective dimension, rooted in the ethos of kinship.[6] Safeguarding freedom from both perspectives has been and continues to be achieved through political action.[7] Freedom continues as a fundamental principle in present-day assertions of Métis governance, as exemplified in the constitutions of current Métis governing bodies, such as the Constitution of the Métis Nation British Columbia.[8] The Métis Nation of Alberta is currently in the process of drafting its constitution; you can follow its development here.[9]
Miyeu Waahkootoowin (“Being Related in a Good Way”)
The principle of kinship connection created by engaging in meaningful relationships with the collective is an expression of freedom.[10] The basic aim of kinship is to foster good relations in the pursuit of common goals.[11] Waahkootoowin also carries with it a social obligation that binds the Métis together, with the family unit at the heart of the kinship relations.[12] Family relationships were not always tied to bloodline relations, sometimes arising from the sharing of activities, such as fur trading.[13] Scholars have connected the Métis waahkootoowin with the Cree wahkohtowin,[14] which was previously covered in detail on this blog. To learn more about wahkohtowin, please see our blog posts from October of 2019 here.[15] Miyeu waahkootoowin continues through several avenues: by invocation in Métis ceremony and assembly; by informing governance activities; and by finding expression in Métis laws and practices.[16] The value of miyeu waahkootoowin to the Métis people was expressed well by President David Chartrand at the Manitoba Métis Federation Annual General Assembly in 2015. He wrote, “Strengthen the individual… You strengthen the family. Strengthen the family… You strengthen the community. Strengthen the community… You strengthen the nation.”[17]
Ka Niikaaniichik (“Those Who Lead Us”)
Democracy is essential to the assertion of freedom and to fostering waahkootoowin. Saunders and Dubois identify three types of democratic processes used by the Métis in selecting political leadership: deliberative, direct, and representative.[18] Deliberative democracy occurred through the body of the Assembly, which acted as a vehicle for collective decision-making.[19] Chiefs were democratically elected, ensuring their legitimization and imbued their decision with binding power on the kinship groups subject to them.[20] Contemporary assemblies continue to be crucial for bringing Métis citizens together to express their views and propose ideas.[21] Direct democracy occurred through the means of the election process to select political leaders.[22] This form of democracy played an important role beginning with the early provisional governments.[23] It also historically occurred through the selection of captains during the buffalo hunt. Today, direct democracy through the election process remains the means of selecting leaders at local, regional and provincial levels.[24] Representative democracy occurred through the delegation of decision-making power to selected representatives.[25] Historically, representative democracy was used to determine council members, who were assigned responsibility for the management of daily affairs during the buffalo hunt.[26] Elected representatives continue to represent contemporary Métis citizens at many different levels, including at the community and provincial levels.[27] Regional representatives in turn make up the executive decision-making body of each respective provincial Métis government.[28] Together, the three forms of democracy enhance the political legitimacy of Métis governance practices and contribute to balancing a power among key components of Métis society.[29]
The Rule of Law in Lii Lway di Michif (“Métis Laws”)
Métis laws were an expression of Métis constitutionalism and outlined a “comprehensive system of rules, processes, and institutions by which the Métis agree[d] to live together.”[30] Early expressions of the law, such as the ‘Laws of the Prairie’ were not written but solidified through practice.[31] Later legal mechanisms demonstrate that the Métis situated their actions within the rule of law, “incorporating not only the laws passed by the provisional governments and councils in Manitoba and Saskatchewan but also the petitions, treaties, and resolutions that the Métis regularly engaged in as part of their political activities.[32] The conception of the rule of law that persists today is a conviction in Métis leaders of the responsibility for the welfare of others stemming from accountability within the collective.[33] The rule of law is currently upheld in Métis government through the following processes: the division of powers; ensuring Métis citizen participation in legislative affairs; and ensuring that provincially elected executive bodies exercise their responsibility according to the applicable bylaws and constitution.[34]
Aen Ishi Wiichayaamitooyahk (“How We Live Together”)
The process of forming governing bodies in response to specific events or needs, known as provisional governments, was seen first in the recurring buffalo hunts. The process of forming and disbanding forms of provisional government continued in response to the need for political mobilization as the Métis asserted and defended their right to self-government.[35] While the governments established in these circumstances were temporal in nature, Saunders and Dubois argue that provisionality is not a function of time but of purpose, with the ultimate purpose of the Métis Nation being self-determination.[36] Over time, the political tactics, governance structures and practices have changed to adapt to the needs of the new time and place, but they are linked to one another “across time and space through the commitment to maintain aen ishi wiichayaamitooyahk (how we live together)…”[37]
Taken together, the principles of freedom, kinship, democracy, rule of law, and provisionality form the foundation of Métis governance structures as they work together to protect what the Métis describe as ka ishi pimaatishiyaahk (“our way of life”).[38] The principles find continued expression as the Métis work towards the ultimate objective of self-determination and self-government.
Yours Truly,
Team ReconciliAction YEG
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[1] Kelly Saunders & Janique Dubois, Métis Politics and Governance in Canada (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2019) at 37.
[2] Ibid at 149.
[3] Ibid at 37.
[4] Ibid at 39.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] See Métis Nation British Columbia, “Constitution” (revised September 2008), online (pdf): <www.metisportals.ca/cons/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/constitution_metis_nation_bc.pdf> f
[9] “A Métis Nation of Alberta Constitution” (last visited 03 February 2020), online: Alberta Métis Government <www.albertametisgov.com/metis-nation-alberta-constitution/>.
[10] Supra note 1 at 42.
[11] Ibid at 43.
[12] Ibid at 42.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Brenda Macdougall, One of the Family: Métis Culture in Nineteenth-Century Northwestern Saskatchewan (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2010).
[15] See ReconciliAction YEG, beginning at “Wahkohtowin in Ceremony” (07 October 2019), online (blog): University of Alberta Faculty of Law Faculty Blog <ualbertalaw.typepad.com/faculty/2019/10/index.html>.
[16] Supra note 1 at 44.
[17] David Chartrand, President’s Report: 47th MMF Annual General Assembly (Winnipeg: Manitoba Métis Federation, 2015) at 8, online (pdf): <www.mmf.mb.ca/docs/aga/President_Report_2015.pdf>.
[18] Supra note 1 at 45.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Ibid at 46.
[22] Ibid at 47.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Kelly L Saunders, “No Other Weapon: Métis Political Organization and Governance in Canada” in Christopher Adams, Gregg Dahl & Ian Peach (eds) Métis in Canada: History, Identity, Law and Politics (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2013) 339.
[25] Supra note 1 at 48.
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid at 50.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Ibid at 51-52.
[30] Ibid at 53.
[31] Ibid at 52.
[32] Ibid at 53.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Ibid at 55.
[35] Ibid at 57.
[36] Ibid.
[37] Ibid at 58.
[38] Ibid.
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