Rejecting the Standard Discourse on Métis Lands in Manitoba

Authors

  • D'Arcy Vermette

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5663/aps.v6i2.28227

Abstract

This paper challenges the assumptions and interpretative frameworks used by several prominent scholars of Metis history in Manitoba.  The scholars were chosen for their prominence in their field and their particiation as expert witnesses in recent litigitation betwen the Crown and the Manitoba Metis.  The article demonstrates that the scholarship (dubbed the "standard discourse") is repleat with apologists techniques meant to undermine the impact of government blundering, unsound historical interpretation, an emphasis on individuals as the unit of interpretating history and, in the case of one author, a well-established bias against Aboriginal cultures.  The paper serves as a window into understanding the unspoken aspects of the standard discourse.  Utimately, it is helpful to recognize that much of the standard discourse is based on preference of the researcher and does not represent an absolute truth in interpretation.

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Published

2017-11-02