Canadian Museum for Human Rights launches Métis Rights Tour on Louis Riel Day

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is launching a new tour exploring the complex human rights history of the Métis people just in time for Louis Riel Day.

The Métis Rights Tour, which launches Monday, was developed with help from the Louis Riel Institute, the Manitoba Métis Federation and L'Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba.

"A number of our exhibits look at Métis history and Métis rights, but what we wanted to be able to do is provide a 75-minute tour that gets you from the bottom of the museum to the top to better understand the diversity of experiences and the efforts to reclaim and claim those rights," explained CMHR spokesperson Angela Cassie.

"We wanted to make sure we worked with the community to be able to build on the exhibits in the museum but also share stories that are perhaps not currently featured in a museum exhibit."

The tour begins at the Ancestral Place Circle in the museum's welcome hall and continues through the Indigenous Perspectives gallery.

It includes stops at exhibits including the world's largest Métis beaded artwork, created by Manitoba artist Jennine Krauchi, and the Canadian Journeys gallery exhibits about residential schools and Métis resistance.

The tour ends in the seventh floor's Inspiring Change gallery, in front of the guitar painted by Métis artist Christi Belcourt, in the exhibit about Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Cassie says the tour intends to help museum goers better understand Métis history and culture, and how the Métis peoples changed not only Manitoba, but Canada as well.

"What we know and understand is that it's a history that's either not well known, or a history that has perhaps been presented through different lenses," she said.

"So to understand the deep history of the Métis peoples, the violations, but also their efforts and examples of resistance and today's resurgence of Métis identity, will help us better understand the experiences of the peoples around us and hopefully better understand as ongoing efforts to claim these rights are being discussed right now in the media."

The Louis Riel Day activities at the CMHR will include fiddling and beading workshops throughout the day and a performance by Festival du Voyageur "Official Voyageurs", the Perron-Beaudry family.

The tours are free with regular admission on Louis Riel Day and will also be available through the CMHR's website throughout the year.