What is a Metis?

Forwarded Message:

What is a Metis

Thursday, June 19, 2008 3:06 PM
From:
"Joe"
To:
CMC_Forum@yahoogroups.com
WHAT IS A Métis?©
February 25, 2008.

This question has been asked by so many people. And just as many people have conveyed their interpretation of what is a Métis. The Canadian Government has even provided its own interpretation of what is Métis.
To each Métis, there is a different answer from a different
perspective. I feel one cannot define Métis without looking at the history and culture and there the problem begins. I cannot speak for anyone else. I cannot group the Métis into a label that encompasses all Métis. To do so would exclude many and set forth a stereotype.
One cannot dismiss the "diversity" in the teachings that sits in the very core of being Métis. To define Métis according to a preset format, or stereotype, can only at best provide the damaging tools to divide the Métis Nation and feed discord amongst its people.

Taking into account the history of this great land, a Métis emerged from the passion of love between a man and a woman. The parents of this child were loving and caring. This child is the embodiment of hers/his ancestral roots. In some cases, the child was taught by the mother. In some cases, the child was taught by the father. And yet,
in another case was taught by both. If we look at the mother being a First Nation Women, and the father being European, we can imagine the dilemma faced by this child. Or is there a dilemma? Perhaps not.

To start with, there must have been an interest in the other's culture. The individual's interest in the other's culture is perhaps the start point. I have heard some say, "we don't that". "That belongs to the First Nations and not us". It seems to be a very Eurocentric view. We should try and understand that perhaps you did not do this. That perhaps this is not your way. To include all the Métis in that statement puts us in the same position as the very
ones that judged the Métis in the beginning. Being segregated and even looked down upon by one's own family for not only marrying into First Nations, but also exercising the individuality and non-judgmental attitude towards the parents. It takes away the very reason why some went away. It takes away the individuality of the
Métis. It takes away from the very Spirit of being Métis. The individuality of the Métis seems to be the very core of what we may consider a Métis. By trying to coerce me in making me just like you, are you not taking away the individuality of who I am?

We all know the history of some of the first coureurs des bois and how some chose not to be part of the system existing at the time. Some chose to move away…perhaps because they were better treated or
not judged.
So, what is a Métis? Since there is a different definition from each and every Métis, then we can say that each definition is a component part of the whole, and therefore can also say that any one component part cannot inclusively define the Whole. This is to say, every one's definition is important to the whole.

Miigwetch,
Joseph R. Paquette

Lay your burdens down

We all know the feeling of walking through life as if we are carrying the huge burden of our worries and stresses on our backs and shoulders, struggling to keep moving forward. There is no real way to move freely and fluidly in such a situation, and we are all longing to lay our burdens down. Just imagining that it would be possible to do such a thing can be enough to elicit a sigh of relief and a feeling of lightness.

The human imagination is a powerful tool, and we can use it to take journeys to faraway places without ever leaving our home. Because of this, we too can lay our burdens down at the feet of a divine being such as the great Mother, Buddha or a mountain. Releasing ourselves from that which we can’t handle on our own. No matter how smart we are, how capable we are, or how hard we work, no one can single-handedly cope with all the worries that we tend to take on in the course of our lives. And, we aren't designed to do so. Our wellbeing depends upon our ability to hand over that which we can no longer carry by ourselves.

Visualizing yourself carrying your burdens to the feet of someone or something much bigger than you can be a powerful daily practice. To begin, sit with your eyes closed and envision an all powerful, supremely comforting being in what ever form that takes for you, standing at the end of a road. See yourself carrying a large sack, box, or other container, imagining that all your worries are inside it. Watch as you make your way to the being of your choice, and lay your baggage down at their feet. Allow yourself to feel the lightness and relief of this action, express your gratitude, and surrender. You will be amazed by how this simple meditation can liberate you from a burden you were never meant to carry.