Classroom Resources

Michif French Resources

About Michif French

Michif French, sometimes referred to as French Michif and Michif, is known to be spoken in regions such as St. Laurent, St. Eustache and Saint Ambroise in Manitoba, St. Louis, Batoche, St. Laurent, Duck Lake areas in Saskatchewan, and the Lac la Biche, St. Paul, St. Albert and Bonnyville areas in Alberta, with slight variations in the language within regions. It is said to have been the language primarily spoken in the Red River area in the 1870s. Linguists often refer to Michif French as a dialect of French; however, traditional speakers of the language refer to it as Michif, the language of their Red River Métis families. It is said to have been influenced by the phonological and syntactic features of Algonquian languages, as noted in examples such as the word ‘window’ in French, which is ‘fenêtre’ but is shaasii or vett in Michif French, and the term ‘skunk’ in French is ‘moufette’ but is shiikawk in Michif French.

A special thanks to the Michif French contributors:

Mataant Ang
Pawpaw Sonny
Maymair Phyllis

“We become who we are by listening and watching. We make la gaalet by the feel of our grandma’s fingers. There are no written recipes for food or life but there are moments and memories that form the basis for Métis identity.”

Elder Norman Fleury