Celebrating the Year of the Métis
As CBC joins the celebration of the Year of the Métis (something we believe can extend well beyond 2010) we want to showcase the colour, spirit, and meaning attached to the Michif people. This legacy site is a showcase of some amazing artists and storytellers. People seeking and exploring what it means to be uniquely Métis.
Find and share events happening across the province. Tour our online galleries. Listen to incredible stories. Learn Michif. Watch art projects unfold. Laugh. Remember. Build and create.
Learning Michif
Michif is the language of the Métis people of Canada and the United States, who are the descendants of First Nations and fur trade workers of European ancestry.
- Wahkootowin- the term used to express the sense that family was the foundational relationship for pursuing economic , political, social, or cultural activities or alliances.
- Niiya- I
- Kiiyanaan/Niiyanaan- Us
- Taanshi kiiya- How are you?
- Awaana kiiyanaan- Who are we?
- Minikwae- drink
- Miitishoo- eat
- Lii Michif niyanaan- We are Michif
- Taanshi aen itwaek aen Michif- How it is said in Michif
- L'itii- Summer
- Latonn- Fall
- L'ivayer- Winter
- Li praentaan- Spring
- Paapa- dad
- Maama- mom
- Nook- uncle
- Taant- aunty
- Frayer- brother
- Soer- sister
- Nookoom- grandma
- Mooshoom- grandpa
Features
- Your PhotosBatoche
- This year marked the 125 anniversary of the Northwest Resistance of 1885.
Audio Gallery
As a painter, writer, curator and professor David Garneau probes what it means to be Métis. Committed to reflecting his community this reknown artist always shows is work at home first. Garneau is a descendant of Laurent Garneau who settled in Edmonton, AB.
"My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back."-Louis Riel
Photo credit: Art images on this website are courtesy of David Garneau unless otherwise noted.
Passing the Torch
CBC is excited to pair three Métis artists of any discipline with three Métis elders.
The elders will share a story, song, or teaching of their choice.
The artists will then have a unique opportunity to blend that gift into their own work.
We'll be documenting the process over the next number of months.
Final pieces to be revealed on February 18, 2011 at a CBC Métis showcase held at the Exchange in Regina.
Artists have until November 10, 2010 to submit their bios and reason for wanting to be part of the project.
Please include contact information.
These can be mailed or dropped off at 2440 Broad Street, Regina, SK S4P 0A5 or emailed to Brett at brett.bradshaw@cbc.ca