'We've always held strong': Ceremony marks start of Métis Week in Calgary

A flag-raising ceremony Monday outside Calgary City Hall marked the start of Métis Week, a celebration of the history, culture and contributions of the Métis people in Alberta and across Canada.

In the noontime sun, those gathered for the ceremony in downtown Calgary sang the Métis anthem as the Métis flag, which bears a white infinity symbol over a blue field, was raised.

"We are proud to be Métis, watch our nation rise again," the group sang. "Never more forgotten people, we're true Canadians."

Speaking after the ceremony, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said about 21,000 people in Calgary identify as Métis, according to census data.

She added that the Métis community in the city accounts for roughly half of the Indigenous population of Calgary.

"Many of these people are our neighbours and friends, and [they] are a very important part of the City of Calgary's work with Indigenous communities and families who call Calgary their home," she said.

The Métis people trace their origins to the meeting of First Nations and European settlers, particularly the French, in the initial decades of colonization in Canada.

"In the early 1700s, the Métis people emerged with their own culture, language and socio-political practices," Gondek said.

In addition to proclaiming the third week of November as Métis Week, Gondek declared Wednesday to be Louis Riel Day in Calgary.

Riel, a Métis politician and activist, fought to defend Métis rights in the late 19th century, leading resistance movements against the Canadian government. He was also a founder of the province of Manitoba.

After being convicted of high treason in 1885, Riel was executed. 

"For many Métis, their lives after 1885 changed dramatically, with many suffering racism and discrimination for decades, federally, provincially and within the cities in which they lived, including Calgary," Gondek said.

"Regardless, people have continued to fight. And for generations, Métis families have gathered together, celebrating life, building community economies and strengthening the Métis nation in the province known today as Alberta as well as throughout Canada." 

Lawrence Gervais, the president of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3, also spoke following the flag-raising ceremony, noting the Métis flag was first raised in 1816, decades before Canada became a country.

"It was raised as a battle flag, it was raised as a resistance flag to the forts, it was raised as a resistance flag to the settlers that were coming in," Gervais said.

He said the week-long celebration in Calgary highlights the resilience of the Métis people, whom the Cree called Otipemisiwak, which means, "the people who own themselves."

"We've always held strong," Gervais said. "Even from that day when we raised that flag."