|
This map is the first to illustrate the distribution of the
Métis population in Canada. Historically, the term Métis
was applied in the Prairies to children born of Cree women and French
merchants, and in the North to children born of Dene women and English
or Scottish merchants. Today the term is broadly used to designate
people who have both European and First Nations ancestors. In considering
themselves Métis, these persons distinguish themselves from
members of First Nations or Indian, Inuit and non-Aboriginal persons.
Many Canadians have both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal ancestors,
but not all refer to themselves as Métis. 1
The Métis Population is represented by means of point symbols
located at the centre of the 1783 census subdivisions (CSDs)
containing a population of more than 10 Métis. Each symbol
increases in size with the size of the population, and the shade
and shape of the symbol changes to facilitate reading of the map.
An attempt has been made to group the population into five classes
with each representing roughly one-fifth
of the Métis.
Two-thirds of the Métis population of Canada (210 000 persons)
live on the Prairies. In 1996, there were 51 000 Métis enumerated
in Alberta, 46 000 in Manitoba and 36 600 in Saskatchewan, representing
in total, over a third of the Aboriginal population of the Prairie
Provinces. Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Prince Albert
and Regina are the CSDs
with the largest number of Métis (a total of 60 000). There
are a number of northern villages that are predominantly Métis
in northern Saskatchewan, notably La Loche, Ile-à-la-Crosse,
Pinehouse and Buffalo Narrows.
Thirteen per cent of the Métis population of Canada lives
in British Columbia and a total of 18% lives in Ontario and Quebec.
Nearly half of the Canadian population identifying themselves as
Métis are scattered in CSDs
containing less than 500 Métis.
The Aboriginal population of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador
is about equally divided between Métis, Indians and Inuit.
The Métis are located in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and many
of the villages of Labrador are predominantly Métis.
1. Canada. Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
Development, Communications Branch. Words First: An Evolving Terminology
Relating to Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. Ottawa, December 2000.
(unpublished) |
