Tidbits to Know

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• There are approximately 60,000 Métis living in Alberta
  
  
• There are eight Métis settlements or colonies in Alberta
  
  
• Métis people are often referred to as the ‘Forgotten People’
  
  
• The Cree gave the Métis people the name ‘oteepaymsoowuk’ which means ‘their own boss’ or ‘people who own themselves’
  
  
• At the time the treaties were signed, the Canadian government tried to deal with the land and rights of people of mixed Aboriginal and Euro-Canadian backgrounds. In theory, only people of exclusively Aboriginal ancestry were supposed to be covered by treaties. People of mixed ancestry, the Métis, were offered something known as "scrip" instead. Scrip certificates entitled their owners to claim specified quantities of land. Later this was changed to allow scrip owners the option of either claiming land or cash to purchase land. While most scrip certificates wound up in the hands of land speculators, the program did reflect, at least in part, a recognition by the Canadian government that the Métis had land rights
  
  
• Religion formed an important part of Métis peoples’ lives. Most Métis of French descent were devout Catholics, and while those of Scottish or English ancestry were typically Anglicans, Methodists or Presbyterians
  
  
• A priest would often accompany the Métis on their annual buffalo hunts. Feast days were a time to socialize with other families. With the arrival of the Grey Nuns at Red River settlement in 1844, Métis children had access, albeit brief, to religious and secular education

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