Partnerships between Aboriginal Organizations and Academics

The article addresses the importance of the partnership between university professors and the Metis community. The Metis are a distinct nation and people that emerged in the northwest of what is now Canada and a bit into the United States through a process of ethnogenesis. The Metis Nation expressed its nationhood and defended its territory militarily in 1870 and again in 1885. Subsequently, Canada dealt with the Metis as individuals by implementing a scrip system, which displaced the Metis from their lands. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Metis Nation, along with other Aboriginal peoples, engaged in a constitutional process that witnessed limited success. Following that process, in 1993, the Metis moved their fight to the courts as many of their citizens were being charged with hunting and fishing infractions. This process necessitated the need for historical research and expert testimony, so the already emerging relationships with academia became more pronounced with progressive professors engaging in preparing expert reports and testifying at trial. Outside of the courts, research alliances were also engaged in. The outlook for the Metis Nation is more and more positive. The partnerships with academia has been a key contributor to this movement forward.