Metis Culture - A perspective
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Metis Culture
"You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round ... The Sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours...."
"Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. "
-- Black Elk, Ogalala Sioux, 1863-1950
Metis cultures, like the word "metis" or "mestizo" is mixed. The cultures are a composite of the ancestry of the individual with a heavy emphasis on a person's individual Native American heritage. The "culture" of a Red River Metis will be quite different from a Metis (mixed blood) whose heritage and teachings are Cherokee, Blackfoot, Seneca, Cree, Crow, Lakota, etc. Often the day-to-day mundane life of today's Metis can be described as mainstream blue collar or white collar. In the area of spirituality and religion, custom, manners and relationships with the world and its inhabitants, however, a true Metis walks within the Circle of Life.
There are variations in practices, traditions and ceremony among the various Metis groups or nations, just as there are variations among Native American tribes and nations. People who identify themselves as Metis are generally unique in that they honor all parts of their ancestry. A Metis may sit and play a lively tune on a fiddle, or solemnly light their personal prayer pipe. Today's Metis may run a business or dig ditches during the day, then spend the evening telling their children the legend of how the bear lost its tail. They may just as easily sing "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" as they can relate to the spirit of a tree in their backyard. The mixture of immigrant bloods and Native American cultures enhances who they are --- the people who own themselves, the people who take "honoring our ancestors" quite literally.
True Metis place high value on, give proper honor to, and hold sacred the aboriginal side of their ancestry. Ceremonies and rituals must be learned through the time-honored oral traditions of a person's particular native heritage. No secrets are revealed on this website; no sacred rituals written down. We share only the universal truths of the Sacred Hoop --- as described so eloquently by Black Elk in his own personal vision.
The Metis of MNS, our religions and our cultures, are as individual as the numbers of people who have joined our organization. We are joined together in our Native heritage and in our efforts to seek recognition for the victims of genocide. We are a family of castaways clinging together to rise above the flood of genocide --- to build a raft (foundation) for our children and our children's children.
Stories, general articles on Native cultures and traditions, and general information on these topics are provided for educational use. Contributions are welcome and the author will be given credit for their work. No rituals or ceremonies of any tribal nation will be published