LE PROFESSEUR MICHEL BOUCHARD LANCE LA VERSION ANGLAISE DE SA PUBLICATION SUR LES MÉTIS DU QUÉBEC

Le 5 mai 2020

La SHFCB tient à féliciter Michel Bouchard, professeur d’anthropologie à la UNBC et aussi membre du C.A. de la SHFCB, quant à la parution de la version anglaise de son ouvrage, avec Sébastien Malette et Guillaume Marcotte, sur les Métis de l’Ouest du Québec. Nous savons que Michel travaille sur une publication semblable sur les Métis de la C.-B., que nous anticipons impatiemment. Voici les détails portant sur cette publication récente.

 

Bois-Brûlés

The Untold Story of the Métis of Western Québec

By Michel BouchardSébastien Malette, and Guillaume Marcotte

UBC Press

We think of Métis as having exclusively Prairie roots, but what about their presence in Quebec? The province doesn’t recognize a historical Métis community within its territory, and the Métis National Council contests the existence of any Métis east of Ontario. Quebec residents who seek recognition as Métis under the Canadian Constitution therefore face an uphill legal and political battle. Who is right?

Bois-Brûlés, previously available only in French, examines the archival and ethnographic evidence for a historical Métis community in the larger Outaouais region, piecing together a riveting and previously untold history. Scottish and French-Canadian traders and Indigenous women – along with their Bois-Brûlé children – both worked for and competed against fur trade companies in the early nineteenth century, establishing themselves in the unsurveyed lands still known as “Indian country.” As the fur trade declined, these small communities remained.

This controversial work challenges head-on two powerful nationalisms – Métis and Québécois – that see Quebec Métis as “race-shifting” individuals intent on undermining the First Nations of the province. The authors evaluate the strength of community claims to provide a nuanced analysis of the historical basis for a distinctly Métis identity that can be traced all the way to today.

The book will appeal not only to scholars and students of Métis, First Nations, or Indigenous studies, Canadian studies, anthropology, history, legal studies, and political science but also broadly to members of Métis associations and anyone interested in Métis and Canadian history.