Originally Posted by jamawani
Historically Metis -
From the Louis Riel House across the river from UM all the way up (up is south) the Red River Valley - the area was first settled by Metis and the focus of the Metis Revolt. Yesterday, by the way, was Louis Riel Day. After the revolt, not only did many Metis lose their land (one of the reasons for the revolt in the first place) but waves of immigration made the Metis a tiny minority.
http://www.southeastmmf.com/locals.htm
St Malo has one of the larger remaining communities. Generally, if it starts with a St. or a Ste. or sounds French - the original settlers were Metis. A word of caution - many Metis communities face a range of issues from poverty to substance abuse. It is always prudent to avoid judging on first impressions.
There are Metis communities throughout the Prairie Provinces - all the way up to the Peace River District. A friend of mine did her dissertation on post-Riel Metis culture. She got me interested.
PS - Even though the Riel House was in the countryside a century ago - it is now in Winnipeg proper. If you want to go into Winnipeg, Machka can give you the best way to get into the city from the south and out heading west.
Just some history ... Metis are French Aboriginals. They didn't exactly "settle" an area ... one half of their parental units were already there. Then the French came along ... the French and Aboriginals coupled ... and produced Metis offspring. Metis may have loose "communities" across the prairies, but they generally intermingle with the rest of the populations across the prairies (the mennonites, ukrainians, germans, english, icelandic, etc. etc. etc. etc.). In fact, in many cases, you can't even tell by looking if someone is Metis or not ... they
may have dark hair and eyes, but so do a lot of other people. And they don't live on reservations or anything like that, in fact, in Manitoba, there are no lands set aside for Metis settlements. In order to qualify as a Metis to receive any special benefits from the government, you have to prove that you are of aboriginal ancestry, and sometimes, for some of them, that is quite a task because it might have been their great-great-great-grandmother or father ... someone way, way back. I knew a few going through the process of proving their ancestry.
In areas that start with a St or Ste, the settlers who came in and named them were French (Francophone). There is quite a large French community in various places Manitoba such as St. Malo, St. Boniface, and St. Jean Baptiste. And Manitoban French has its own particular acent, just like how Quebec French differs from France French. These people are not Metis ... they are French. However, in some areas there is (naturally) a combination of Aboriginals, Metis, and French.
When Louis Riel was born near Winnipeg, that area was fairly heavily populated by aboriginals, French, and of course Metis, but even during his lifetime, there was quite an influx of other cultures into the area. At the moment only about 5% of the population of Manitoba is Metis (approx. 40,000 Metis), and most of them are either intermingled with everyone else within Winnipeg. Winnipeg has the largest population of Metis - 52% of them live in Winnipeg (approx. 20800). There are about 7500 or so in Northern Manitoba, leaving only about 13300 in southern Manitoba. A lot of those live up around St. Laurent and Lundar, next to Lake Manitoba ... in the Interlake area.
Incidentally, his rebellion etc. happened in and around Fort Garry (just outside Winnipeg,
north of Winnipeg) and Upper Fort Garry (downtown Winnipeg ... if the one remaining bit of it still exists ... just before I left they were talking about putting up a mall there or widening the street or something). Fort Garry, however, is definitely worth seeing. They've done it up quite well.
I had several Metis friends when I lived in Winnipeg, and I can say that none of them were what I would call poor - they were about the same economic level as me, attended the same school as me, got the same types of jobs as me, etc. There wasn't any evidence of substance abuse either.
I've been to St. Malo several times, and it is a lovely, cute little town ... and it has a GREAT campground!!
http://www.debonaircampground.com/ and
http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/pa...alo/index.html You might need reservations, especially on long weekends, but also on other weekends, because it is very popular. Oh, also, there is actually a hill in the St. Malo area, if you happen to be bored with the flatness around there ... note: I didn't say "big" hill!
I've also been to St. Jean Baptiste several times ... we used to do Crits there. That's another cute little
very french town. Everyone speaks French and few speak English. I didn't know much French back then, and had trouble finding things around the town when I asked directions.
However, the area surrounding St. Malo, and St. Jean Baptiste is Mennonite ... very, very Mennonite. So Mennonite, you'll find Wareneke (perogies) and Holopschi (cabbage rolls) in practically every restaurant. Perogies used to be my staple food on randonneuring brevets down there!! Mmmmmm!!!! There's a great place in Vita that sells a nice plate of boiled perogies.
So Mennonite that if you know Low German, you'll be in with the people there ... if you don't, they'll regard you a little bit suspiciously. Steinbach is known for two things ... its car dealerships, and its churches (mostly Mennonite churches, of course) ... there are local jokes about that!
That whole area south of Winnipeg is quite nice for cycling. I've done centuries, brevets, and training rides through there. It gets a little flat in places, but the roads are fairly quiet as long as you stay off Hwy 75 and Hwy 59. The towns are small, but the people are friendly and will likely ask you a lot of questions about what you are doing.