Anglo-Métis
Encyclopedia
A 19th-century community of the Métis people
of Canada
, the Anglo-Métis, more commonly known as Countryborn, were children of fur traders; they typically had Orcadian, Scottish
, or English
fathers and Aboriginal
mothers. Their first languages were generally those of their mothers: Cree
, Saulteaux, Assiniboine
, etc.) and English
. Some of their fathers spoke Gaelic or Scots
, leading to the development of the dialect of English known as "Bungee
".
and the Saskatchewan valleys
, they initially had fewer problems with the expansion of the Canadian state
westward during the 19th century than did their francophone cousins. They tended to identify more with the politically and economically dominant British culture of Canada at this time. Additionally, the Anglo-Métis / Countryborn had a more sedentary lifestyle
of farming than the francophone Métis
community, whose men were generally hunters and trappers. The French-speaking Métis were somewhat more nomadic, due to their reliance upon hunting as a trade and food resource. The Countryborn played a role in both the Red River Rebellion
(or "Red River Uprising") of 1869 and the Northwest Rebellion (or "Northwest Uprising") of 1885, as they suffered from similar issues of racial discrimination and land problems as their francophone
brethren.
Through "ethnogenesis
", by the 19th century the English-speaking and French-speaking Métis had become culturally quite similar, moving closer to each other in opposition to the British-Canadian majority. Their musical traditions, especially in the case of fiddle music, was derived from both British Isles and French origins, as was the Métis traditional dance referred to as "jigging", or the "Red River Jig". In complexion they ranged from fair skinned, blond and blue eyed through dark skinned, with dark hair and dark eyes. Métis elders say that no distinctions were made between individuals based upon complexion within the community. Family, culture, and strong identification with their Christian faith were the unifying bond amongst them. The two communities' primary differences lay in their languages and Christian religious affiliations; the French speakers were generally Roman Catholic and those of British descent were Protestant. Most Countryborn were Anglican or Presbyterian. They were involved in a mixed economy of subsistence farming and bison
hunting throughout most of the 19th century; they also found employment with the Hudson's Bay Company
and the North West Company
.
The Countryborn were often known in the 19th century as "mixed-bloods", "Black Scots", "Native English", or "halfbreeds" (a term now considered pejorative). The French-speaking Metis referred to them simply as les métis anglais or les autres métis. Anglo-Metis gradually came to see themselves as little different from the French-speaking Métis.
Today, the two groups are no longer politically distinct, and are commonly known on the Canadian Prairies
simply as Métis.
Prominent Anglo-Métis / Countryborn include James Isbister
, Thomas McKay
, and John Norquay
, the Premier
of Manitoba
from 1878 to 1887.
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Anglo-Métis, more commonly known as Countryborn, were children of fur traders; they typically had Orcadian, Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
, or English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
fathers and Aboriginal
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
mothers. Their first languages were generally those of their mothers: Cree
Cree language
Cree is an Algonquian language spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Labrador, making it the aboriginal language with the highest number of speakers in Canada. It is also spoken in the U.S. state of Montana...
, Saulteaux, Assiniboine
Assiniboine language
The Assiniboine language is a Nakotan Siouan language of the Northern Plains, spoken by around 200 Assiniboine people, most of them elderly. The name Asiniibwaan is an Ojibwe term meaning "Stone Siouans"...
, etc.) and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Some of their fathers spoke Gaelic or Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
, leading to the development of the dialect of English known as "Bungee
Bungee language
Bungi is a creole of Scottish English strongly influenced by Orcadian, Gaelic, Cree and Ojibwe, and spoken by the Red River Métis in present-day Manitoba, Canada...
".
History
Forming communities in the Red RiverRed River Valley
The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...
and the Saskatchewan valleys
Saskatchewan Valley
The name of a geographic area in Saskatchewan, Canada encompassing generally a triangle from North Battleford, to Saskatoon, north to the Saskatchewan River Forks east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan...
, they initially had fewer problems with the expansion of the Canadian state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
westward during the 19th century than did their francophone cousins. They tended to identify more with the politically and economically dominant British culture of Canada at this time. Additionally, the Anglo-Métis / Countryborn had a more sedentary lifestyle
Sedentary lifestyle
Sedentary lifestyle is a medical term used to denote a type of lifestyle with no or irregular physical activity. A person who lives a sedentary lifestyle may colloquially be known as a couch potato. It is commonly found in both the developed and developing world...
of farming than the francophone Métis
Métis
A Métis is a person born to parents who belong to different groups defined by visible physical differences, regarded as racial, or the descendant of such persons. The term is of French origin, and also is a cognate of mestizo in Spanish, mestiço in Portuguese, and mestee in English...
community, whose men were generally hunters and trappers. The French-speaking Métis were somewhat more nomadic, due to their reliance upon hunting as a trade and food resource. The Countryborn played a role in both the Red River Rebellion
Red River Rebellion
The Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance was the sequence of events related to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by the Métis leader Louis Riel and his followers at the Red River Settlement, in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba.The Rebellion was the first crisis...
(or "Red River Uprising") of 1869 and the Northwest Rebellion (or "Northwest Uprising") of 1885, as they suffered from similar issues of racial discrimination and land problems as their francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
brethren.
Through "ethnogenesis
Ethnogenesis
Ethnogenesis is the process by which a group of human beings comes to be understood or to understand themselves as ethnically distinct from the wider social landscape from which their grouping emerges...
", by the 19th century the English-speaking and French-speaking Métis had become culturally quite similar, moving closer to each other in opposition to the British-Canadian majority. Their musical traditions, especially in the case of fiddle music, was derived from both British Isles and French origins, as was the Métis traditional dance referred to as "jigging", or the "Red River Jig". In complexion they ranged from fair skinned, blond and blue eyed through dark skinned, with dark hair and dark eyes. Métis elders say that no distinctions were made between individuals based upon complexion within the community. Family, culture, and strong identification with their Christian faith were the unifying bond amongst them. The two communities' primary differences lay in their languages and Christian religious affiliations; the French speakers were generally Roman Catholic and those of British descent were Protestant. Most Countryborn were Anglican or Presbyterian. They were involved in a mixed economy of subsistence farming and bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
hunting throughout most of the 19th century; they also found employment with the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
and the North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
.
The Countryborn were often known in the 19th century as "mixed-bloods", "Black Scots", "Native English", or "halfbreeds" (a term now considered pejorative). The French-speaking Metis referred to them simply as les métis anglais or les autres métis. Anglo-Metis gradually came to see themselves as little different from the French-speaking Métis.
Today, the two groups are no longer politically distinct, and are commonly known on the Canadian Prairies
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...
simply as Métis.
Prominent Anglo-Métis / Countryborn include James Isbister
James Isbister
James Isbister was a Canadian Métis leader of the 19th-century. Prominent among the Anglo-Métis of the area, he is considered by some to be the founder of the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.-Life:...
, Thomas McKay
Thomas McKay (N.W.T. politician)
Thomas McKay was a farmer and political figure in Saskatchewan, Canada. He represented Prince Albert in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories from 1891 to 1894 and from 1898 to 1905. McKay was the brother-in-law of Lawrence Clarke, and like Clarke was connected to the Conservative...
, and John Norquay
John Norquay
John Norquay was the Premier of Manitoba from 1878 to 1887. He was born near St. Andrews in what was then the Red River Colony, making him the first Premier of Manitoba to have been born in the region....
, the Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...
of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
from 1878 to 1887.
See also
- AngloAngloAnglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
- Bungee languageBungee languageBungi is a creole of Scottish English strongly influenced by Orcadian, Gaelic, Cree and Ojibwe, and spoken by the Red River Métis in present-day Manitoba, Canada...
- Halcro, SaskatchewanHalcro, SaskatchewanRed Deer Hill has an elementary school called Osborne. It is located on Osborne Road and is a part of the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division.Osborne opened in the late 60's. It at one time had over 200 hundred students. It is now down to about 95.-Religion:...
- Hudson's Bay CompanyHudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
- Michif
- Métis FlagMétis FlagThe Métis Flag was first used by Métis resistance fighters in Canada prior to the Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816. The flag is either blue or red with a white infinity symbol superimposed on top. The blue flag is used to associate the Métis employees of the North West Company, while the red...
- Métis people (Canada)Métis people (Canada)The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
- Métis people (United States)
- Prince Albert, SaskatchewanPrince Albert, SaskatchewanPrince Albert is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is situated in the centre of the province on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The city is known as the "Gateway to the North" because it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan...
- Red River Settlement