World Views Information
Metis Spirituality
Métis Spirituality
To understand Métis spirituality, one must understand Métis history. However, identifying a single starting point of the Métis people is difficult.
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“Scholars searching for the roots of the -historian Grant MacEwan (1981, 3) |
Historically, the Métis can define their nationhood by important events, such as the battle of Seven Oaks in 1816, or the Riel Resistances of 1869/70 and 1885. If we look at these historical events as the start of Métis culture and spiritualism, we can see that the Métis show an affinity for European concepts of religion. Cuthbert Grant, Métis leader during the battle of Seven Oaks, was formally educated in Scotland. Riel was chosen by the Catholic
Church to go into the seminary. Churches at Batoche and Red River, where priests presided during the buffalo hunt, and much historical documentation show that seminal Métis figures were rooted in Christianity.
This is not to say that the First Nations mothers of the Métis Nation had little influence. Being caught between the European and First Nations traditions has been a condition of Métis consciousness from the very beginning, and many proud Métis have practised traditional First Nations spiritualism.
Today Métis people most often practise one of three categories of spirituality: First Nations spirituality, Christianity or a blend of the two.
The common misconception is that the Métis practiced only the religion of their fathers (Catholicism or Protestant). The truth is that like the Métis Nation itself, the spiritual mixture is as complex as the people who make up the nation.
As we see this ability to learn from all of the nations they came in contact with, added to the future spirituality of the Métis.
Today Métis practice all forms of religion, from mainline Christianity to New Age concepts and everything in between. From their Catholicism they have the Patron Saint of Métis people, St. Joseph of Nazareth. From their Aboriginal relatives they incorporate the sweat lodge, medicine wheel, sacred pipe and Long House ceremonies, and many other Aboriginal spiritual beliefs.
Many Métis people, as with other Aboriginal communities, have lost their spiritual connections to the past because of marginalization or poverty and decimation of their communities and their way of life. The healing has begun and the renewal of their spirituality is an exciting journey that many Métis people are taking.