Métis people (USA)

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Paul Kane's oil painting "Half-Breeds Running Buffalo", depicting a Métis buffalo hunt on the prairies of Dakota in June 1846.

The Métis people are an indigenous people derived from Native American or First Nations and European ancestors. Metis is pronounced Meh-tee, and is a French word for "Mixed-blood."

1 Geography
2 Current Population
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Many Metis people are scattered throughout the United States from the West to East Coasts. But a varying number are in the Midwest. Their "homeland" would be the Pembina Territory or the parts of Minnesota and North Dakota which was formerly French and British ruled from the 17th to early 19th centuries until 1818 when the US acquired the lands in the Red River Purchase.

[edit] Current Population

Today, in America, millions of people could claim Metis status, as they are the product of Euopean and Native America ancestors. A lot of these people do not even know that they are Metis. Most, if you would ask them, would not even know what Metis is. However, an estimated 10,000 self-identifiable Metis live in North Dakota (mostly in Pembina County although their cultural status is softer than their brethren to the north in Manitoba, Canada.