Strong Women Stories (Chapter 3)

The Métis Women’s Circle was founded 1995 by Métis women as a response to a need expressed by women of mixed blood and Métis heritage. There is healing work to be done in the Métis communities and a lot of that has to do with people having the notion that they are only alive in history books. Many Métis women fear being told that they don’t belong. Other Métis women have chosen to identify with mainstream culture. To be considered in the Métis Women’s Circle they are three conditions that are required and that is mixed Aboriginal ancestry, self-declaration as Métis, and community acceptance. Many of the Métis women are attempting to expand and displace histories but have failed because too much reliance has been placed on what has been written about Métis. Métis women’s voices are not documented in historical texts. Because of this the Métis Midwife’s Medicine Planting project was created. The projects purpose is to reconstruct Métis women’s histories specific to the southern Great Lakes region. This project has helped to better understand Métis values and Aboriginal worldviews. Their work brings the Circle together in hopeful anticipation each time a tiny scrap of history is uncovered.