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The word Métis (the singular, plural and adjectival forms are the same) is French, and related to the Spanish word mestizo. It carries the same connotation of "mixed blood"; traced back far enough it stems from the Latin word mixtus, the past participle of the verb "to mix".

The name is most commonly applied to descendants of communities in what is now southern Manitoba. The name is also applied to the descendants of similar communities in what is now Ontario, although that group's history is different from that of the western Métis.

There is no generally accepted standard for determining who is Métis and who not, so estimates of the number of Métis vary from 300,000 to 700,000 or more. Many Métis classify as Métis anyone who can prove that an ancestor applied for money scrip or land scrip as part of nineteenth-century treaties with the Canadian government.

A well-known Métis event was the Battle of Seven OaksThe Battle of Seven Oaks took place in 1816 during the long dispute between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, rival fur-trading companies in western Canada. Because of a shortage of food in 1814, Miles Macdonell, had issued a proclamati.

The most famous Métis was Louis RielLouis David Riel ( October 22, 1844 November 16, 1885), sometimes called the "Father of Manitoba", was a Canadian politician and leader of the Metis, an ethnic group of mixed Cree, Ojibway, Saulteaux, French Canadian, and British descent. He led a Resista who led what are usually depicted as two failed rebellions, the Red River RebellionThe Red River Rebellion is the term most often used to describe the actions of a provisional government established in 1869 in the Red River Settlement in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba. Since the provisional government was recognized by Ca in 18691869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). Events March 1 North German Confederation issues 10 gr and 30gr value stamps, printed on goldbeater's skin May 10 Transcontinental Railroad completed at Promontory, Utah. May 15 Wo in the area now known as Manitoba, and the North-West RebellionThe North-West Rebellion (or North-West Resistance or the Saskatchewan Rebellion was a brief and unsuccessful attempt by the Metis people of Saskatchewan to establish their own sovereign nation independent of the Dominion of Canada. After the so-called Re in 18851885 is a common year starting on Thursday (click on link for calendar) Events January January 4 The first successful appendectomy is performed (Dr. William Grant; patient was Mary Gartside). January 20 L. Thompson patents the roller coaster. January 26 T in the area now known as SaskatchewanSaskatchewan ( In Detail) ( In Detail) Motto: Multis E Gentibus Vires (From many peoples, strength CapitalLargest city Regina Saskatoon Area Total % fresh water 7th largest(5th lgst prov. 651 036 km² 9. 1% Population Total (2001) Density Ranked 6th 1 015. Reasonable doubts may be raised about whether either of these events was a rebellion. For example, the actions considered rebellious in 1869 were undertaken by Riel as the leader of a government recognized by Canada as in legitimate control of territory that did not belong to Canada; Canada negotiated the Manitoba Act with this government. After these "rebellions”, land speculators and other non-Métis effectively deprived the Métis of land by exploiting a government program for its purchase, with the government perhaps turning a blind eye. The province of Alberta distributed land to Métis in 1938 to correct what it believed to be an inequity, but Saskatchewan and Manitoba have not followed Alberta's lead.

Two other famous Métis leaders were Cuthbert Grant and Gabriel Dumont.

The Métis are not recognized as a First Nation by the Canadian government and do not receive the benefits granted to First Nations (see Indian Act). However, the new Canadian constitution of 1982 recognizes the Métis as an aboriginal group and has enabled individual Métis to sue successfully for recognition of their traditional rights, such as rights to hunt and trap. In 2003, a court ruling in Ontario found that the Métis deserve the same rights as other aboriginal communities in Canada.