Metis culture in spotlight

By Alexandra Noad - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on November 15, 2024.

Herald photo by Alexandra Noad Olivia Borthwick, a Metis attendant at the Galt Museum, leads an information session about her culture on Wednesday evening at the Galt Museum.

Every year on Nov. 16 Metis people across the nation celebrate Louis Riel day to honour the Metis leader who was executed on the same date back in 1885.

In Alberta, Metis people have declared the week of Nov. 10-16 as “Metis Week” to celebrate the heritage, history and contributions of Metis people to both the province and country through events held province wide.

The Galt Museum and Archives held a Metis information session on Wednesday evening along with a scavenger hunt led by Olivia Borthwick, an attendant for the museum who is Metis.

Borthwick says it’s exciting the city is holding events for people to learn about the history of the Metis and it was an honour to be able to lead one of the events.

“It’s very special to have these things going on in the city and to host them myself, I never thought I would be able to do that, so it’s very exciting,” said Borthwick.

Borthwick added that growing up she didn’t know a lot about her Metis culture, so being able to not only learn, but then teach those learnings has brought her closer to her culture.

One of Borthwick’s favourite things to teach people about the Metis culture is the sashes.

“I love to talk about the sash because the sash is a very decorative piece, but it’s much more than that. It represents different parts of history through colours as well as the technologies of how we used the sash helps you connect to it,” said Borthwick.

Some of these uses include using it as a belt to keep coats closed, a tow rope and even a sewing kit.

The sash was also used as a symbol for women to signal if they were married or not depending on the shoulder in which it was tied on.

Today the sash is worn to show pride for the Metis culture.

“To wear it is kind of like a display and to be proud of your culture,” said Borthwick.

Just like many other Indigenous cultures, the Metis have their own distinct language known as Michif, which can be described as a mix of French and Cree.

Following a short information session, participants went on a scavenger hunt around the museum to find different Michif words throughout the exhibits.

Borthwick hopes by attending similar events, people will not only understand Metis culture, but also gain an appreciation for it as well.

“I think educating people who don’t know about the culture and bringing (them) to these events can helped reconcile what happed and show people what happened (and help them) have an appreciation and understanding for Metis culture,” said Borthwick.