The History of Metis Aboriginal Rights: Politics, Principle, and Policy.

• Published in: Canadian journal of law and society
• Main Author: Flanagan, Thomas E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1990
• Subjects: Law; Sociology and Political Science; Mackenzie Valley
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0829320100001721; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0829320100001721

Abstract This article gives a schematic overview of metis aboriginal rights from the Huron and Superior Treaties of 1850 to the Mackenzie Valley Treaty of 1921. It traces the evolution of federal policy in several stages: treating Metis as Indians, followed by individual grants of land, scrip and money. Pragmatism and expediency led to many inconsistencies in policy, but there were also pressures of administrative precedent favouring rationalization. Awareness of this history is essential in determining what metis aboriginal rights, if any, are still “existing” under s. 25 of the Constitution Act, 1982.