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Michif Knowledge Keepers Learning Packages
Métis Fiddler
Dean Smith performing at Back to Batoche. Batoche, SK

We gather to celebrate and honour all aspects of Métis culture and Michif language.

Welcome to the Métis Gathering site. Our vision is to provide  information about the historical and contemporary Métis Nation from a Métis perspective. Our goal is to add content on a regular basis. Please check-in frequently to keep learning!

 

Learn more about Métis

Speaker Directory

Meet our Knowledge Keepers – here to share their stories, history and wisdom.

Faye Maurice

Faye Maurice

Saskatoon, SK

Faye Maurice heard her grandmother speaking the Michif language when she was young, but she didn’t learn until she was in her 30s, after attending a Francophone-Michif conference. When she heard…
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Meet Our Speakers

Learning Packages

The Métis culture will continue to be lived and celebrated when we pass our knowledge on to the generations who follow us.

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Conversational Michif

Learn basic phrases in Michif and how values like respect and kindness are embodied in the language.

Learn basic greetings in Michif, a beautiful language that was born here on the prairies. By learning Michif, we will also see how language is tied to the expression of important cultural values such as gratitude, respect and kindness.
Explore Conversational Michif
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Food & Harvesting

Uncover the craft of traditional Métis harvesting methods.

In this learning package we trace the evolution of sustenance and survival in Métis homelands through the gathering of plants, hunting and fishing. We honour the importance of Mother Earth and acknowledge the historical and contemporary medicinal usage of plants. We also explore the efforts of the Métis Nation to secure our inherent right to harvest.
Explore Food & Harvesting
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Geography

Learn Métis geographical terms and definitions and their historical context.

Listen to the Elders share their stories as they describe how Métis learn from and live off the land. 
Explore Geography
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Courtney-Dawn Anaquod, Batoche Saskatchewan - 2019

Back to Batoche

Back to Batoche - Heartland Celebration

Learn the history, then come enjoy four fun filled days of food, music, dance, and culture every third week in July!

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Paykiiwikay Podcast

Join our host Leah Dorion and guests as we explore the past, present and future landscape of Métis culture.

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Paykiiwikay

Vincent Ahenakew – The Story of Northern Michif

In the final instalment of this season of Paykiiwikay, host Leah Dorion travels to Île-à-la-Crosse where she finds Vincent Ahenakew who is a staunch proponent of Northern Michif. His efforts…
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Paykiiwikay

Cort Dogniez – Teaching Michif to Urban Métis

Respected educator Cort Dogniez joins Leah Dorion in this episode of Paykiiwikay to delve into the future of the Michif language. As a leader at St. Michael's Community School in…
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Paykiiwikay

Amy Briley – Traditional Métis Beadwork and Sewing

Beading has long been a Métis tradition passed from generation to generation by mothers and grandmothers. Author and leading educator in Métis sewing traditions, Amy Briley, is featured in this…
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Louis Riel statue with sash

Elder Joanna Potiyondi – Métis Horse Culture

In this episode of Paykiiwikay, Elder Joanna Potyondi shares stories of her life lived steeped in the rich Métis horse culture tradition, passed down from generation to generation, dating back…
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Adam Daigneault

Adam Daigneault – Métis Fiddling

Get ready to tap your toes and snap your fingers. In this episode of Paykiiwikay, Prince Albert fiddler Adam Daigneault discusses traditional Métis fiddle music, his influences and mentors in…
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Elder Fleury

Elder Norman Fleury – The Michif Language

In this episode of Paykiiwikay, we feature an in-depth and educational conversation with respected Métis Elder and Language Keeper Norman Fleury. Elder Fleury leads host Leah Dorion through the history…
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Chef Jennifer Lessard preparing meal

Chef Jenni Lessard – Learning Michif through traditional and contemporary food/cooking

Jenni Lessard is one of Canada’s top chefs and proud of her Saskatchewan Métis roots. She and Leah talk about why making and processing traditional Métis foods, including the harvesting…
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Métis community

Calvin Racette – Losing the Michif Language

In this episode, Elder Calvin Racette teaches us about why Michif language is endangered today, the Road Allowance experience, and how racism and exclusion affected him and the language.
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Andrea Menard

Andrea Menard – Promoting Michif language through art

This interview with award winning Métis singer, songwriter, performer, actor and writer Andrea Menard explores how she is working to promote Michif language, teachings, and the worldview through her own…
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Paykiiwikay

Russell Fayant – Michif History, Language and Culture

Russel Fayant shares the history of the Métis Nation in Saskatchewan using his own family story as an example of Michif revitalization. 
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