Rekindling the sacred fire : Métis ancestry and Anishinaabe spirituality /

Using an Indigenous world view and methodology, Fiola (Native studies, Univ. of Manitoba, Canada) investigates the revitalization of Anishinabe spirituality among 18 Métis respondents, ages 25-76, from the Red River Colony in Manitoba, Canada. She explores the history of colonization resulting in land dispossession and the marginalization of mixed-blood Native peoples who were denied legal status as First Peoples or assimilation into Canadian society. Conversion to Catholicism, cultural genocide, and myriad forms of abuse inflicted on Indigenous children by the residential school system and child welfare practices contributed to a loss of cultural and spiritual identity. Recent political activism has encouraged many with Métis ancestry to reclaim their Anishinabe identity and move away from Christianity. The respondents are a predominately urban, highly educated group employed in education and the service professions. Aided by family, friends, clan members, and activists and influenced by powwows and the Métis Friendship Circle, they have traversed distinctive personal journeys to join a Midewiwin lodge, receive a spirit name, and seek purification in a sweat lodge and smudging ceremony. Motivated by a collective orientation to do good for the people, they have embraced Anishinabe spirituality and ethnic identity. Fiola offers important insights into the dynamic of decolonization, the complexities of ethnicity, and the resurgence of Canada's Métis people. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries. --Julius H. Rubin, University of Saint Joseph

At a time when questions of identity are so important for people who have found themselves marginalized as a result of colonialism, the Métis could not be a more appropriate group to consider in order to dig into the deeper questions of identity, community, and belonging. They occupy an uncanny space as there has not been, and still seems not to be, a coherent definition of their identity, whether it is native, 'mixed blood', or other. Fiola, a professor of Native Studies at the University of Manitoba and a descendant of the Red River Métis, examines how the Métis identify with the traditions of the past, and where they fit in the present. Her central question is how can the Métis relate to their Anishinaabe past and spirituality? Addressing this, Fiola focuses on lived experiences through a series of interviews that address identity, self-perception and the question of community. She focuses on how the Métis can rediscover their heritage and the implications in identity politics, law and history. This is a great book in an under researched field that tackles important questions without an overt recourse to the typical type of theory that can be alienating in itself. (July 2015) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.