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Developing a New Approach to Hivernant Métis Ethnic Identity in Archaeology

Identification

Clé publique

radar:r-3d08ae5159dc5b51441ef2ace2a1ed59

Auteurs

Mallet Gauthier, Solene C

Année déclarée

2026

Langue déclarée

en

Type source

Dissertation

Première détection

2026-11-13T08:56:58.120135+00:00

Dernière observation des métadonnées

2026-11-13T08:56:58.120135+00:00

Dernière vérification HTTP

Non effectuée

Résumé documentaire — langue originale

Métis collective identity has been of interest to archaeologists working in the Canadian West for over 50 years. However, the theoretical frameworks and methodologies employed to examine this topic have remained mostly unchanged. As a result, the predominant understanding of Métis ethnic identity in archaeology is shaped by their origins as a people of mixed ancestry. In attempts to define the outlines of Métis identity in the archaeological record, researchers sought out evidence associated with “mixed” or “hybrid” practices. This was recently demonstrated to be a reductive and ultimately flawed understanding of Métis ethnic identity, one that is based in colonially-imposed Western ways of knowing. In this dissertation, I propose a new approach to Métis ethnic identity in archaeology. This approach is both theoretical and methodological in nature. I approach the topic of ethnic identity through the lens of foodways, as they have proven to be closely related to many facets of identity and leave material traces that can be studied by archaeologists. More specifically, I consider overwintering, or hivernant Métis cultural identity in the late nineteenth century. In the second half of the nineteenth century, many Métis whose livelihoods were directly connected to the fur trade chose to spend the winter on the Plains, building log cabins and living sedentarily for about six months of the year. Overwintering sites are the most well-documented type of Métis sites and are distinctly Métis places in the landscape in an otherwise multicultural colonial setting. They thus offer access to seasonal accumulations of material culture of a highly mobile group. I propose that the concept of relationality, connected to the Métis and Nêhiyaw (Cree) concept of wahkohtowin, provides a much more interesting alternative to hybridity and mixedness when looking to discuss hivernant Métis ethnic identity. Relationality, which was expressed through and by foodways, connected the Métis to their lands and to each other. In turn, the idea of being in relation was (and continues to be) at the core of definitions of Métis cultural identity. I apply those ideas to data collected at Chimney Coulee (DjOe-6), an overwintering site occupied from around 1871 to 1883, located in southwestern Saskatchewan. I demonstrate that archaeological materials associated with foodways found at this site, including ceramics, metal objects, bottle glass, charcoal, animal bones, and seeds, can be understood as evidence of the relations existing between the community members, and between community members and their land. This then contributed to the definition and enacting of an hivernant Métis ethnic identity. This project contributes in many ways to the development of the archaeology of the Métis, which remains an emergent area of study, but also more broadly to the archaeology of foodways, to the historical archaeology of the Northern Plains, and of Indigenous peoples in the post-contact period. The interpretations proposed in this dissertation also require a broader understanding of the land and its components than what is traditionally brought forward in the study of foodways in North American historical contexts. Here, the land plays an active role in the definition of hivernant ethnic identity and is not only understood through a biological perspective or as a background element. The results from this dissertation serve as the foundation for future archaeological research on the Métis, and for the application of methods from environmental archaeology to historical-era sites in the Northern Plains. Much work remains to be done to firmly anchor the Métis as key players in archaeological narratives of the Western North American fur trade, and many research avenues remain unexplored. Although some of the ideas presented in this dissertation are specific to the hivernant Métis, this research is also intended to incite colleagues working in other contexts to explore new facets of the link between foodways and ethnic identity.

Identifiants

DOI

10.7939/84056

Repères documentaires

Famille documentaire

Thèse

Types déclarés par les sources

Dissertation

Éditeurs

University of Alberta Library

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Sources

DataCite · Document 1

• Document · https://ualberta.scholaris.ca/handle/123456789/105407

Statut documentaire

Pertinence à examiner

Bibliothèque

Cette identité n’est pas encore intégrée à la Bibliothèque juridique.