Content area
Abstract
Place is "the first of all things." It is fundamental to an understanding of Metis histories, communities, and identities. Beginning with complex, dialectical processes of emplacement and experience, place is central to personal and group identity. Through the experience of events in place and their subsequent remembrance, histories are interconnected with place and are place-supported. Metis elders and community members return to their meaningful places in narrative and in daily life as a means to share their histories; impart knowledge about Metis ethnicity, values and traditions; strengthen kinship bonds; and contribute to a sense of community and belonging. Place is crucial to an understanding of the Metis as a people: past, present, and future. This relationship to place is exemplified through Metis elders' and community members' place narratives and praxis connected to the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, as well as through my own fieldwork experiences.
