Honouring the Leaders Who Built Our Nation and the Work Still Ahead
Posted on: Nov 18, 2025
Every November, Métis Week arrives quietly. Across Alberta, you’ll see our flag raised and hear the notes of the fiddle. At the Alberta Legislature, Métis people will gather to remember a man whose life changed the course of this country, Louis Riel.
This week is not only about Riel. It is about all those who followed him, men and women who built communities, led governments, and kept the flame of our Nation alive when the world would have preferred it dim. Men like Gabriel Dumont, the military leader who fought at Batoche. And those who carried that spirit into a new century like the Famous Métis Five who helped found the first Métis political organization in Alberta: Joe Dion, Malcolm Norris, Felix Callihoo, Pete Tomkins, and James Brady.
They were teachers, trappers, veterans, and organizers, ordinary men who did extraordinary things. They built schools, defended our rights, and made sure our people were never forgotten by the governments that once tried to erase us. Leadership does not always come from a position of power. Sometimes it looks like endurance. Sometimes it looks like faith.
That’s what Métis Week is, an act of faith. A declaration that we are still here, governing ourselves, raising families, and holding on to the rights our ancestors carried forward.
Louis Riel was elected to Canada’s Parliament three times, yet he was never permitted to take his seat. His voice, and the people he represented, were shut out of the very chamber that claimed to speak for all Canadians.
And yet, even now, the struggle for recognition continues.
Some would prefer to divide us, to tell Métis people they don’t need their own government, to question our legitimacy, to claim we can’t be both proud of who we are and recognized by law. Simply put, these are debates about power. They use confusion to pull families apart, to weaken a Nation that has done nothing but survive with dignity.
Let’s be plain, our government is not a creation of politics but rather the expression of a people. The Otipemisiwak Métis Government is recognized by Canada. It is chosen by Métis Citizens, built through generations of work, and grounded in a Constitution that affirms our right to self-determination. We are a self-governing Indigenous Nation within Alberta, and Alberta should stand with us, not against us.
Because the Métis have always been builders here. We cleared trails, built homes, and raised communities on the banks of these rivers long before this province had a name. We fought for fairness, not favour, and for recognition, not charity. And we continue to do so, even when we are still shut out of the real conversations. We are often invited for the photo, not for the discussion. The door cracked open just wide enough to let in the appearance of inclusion. That is not partnership. That is a checkbox.
This Métis Week, I ask Albertans to listen, really listen. To remember that the Métis story is Alberta’s story too. That this province was not built by one people alone, but by many who worked the same ground, dreamed the same dreams, and fought the same cold winters together.
The Legislature filled again this week with fiddle songs and jigging. And as they echo off the stone walls, I hope we all remember that Louis Riel never took his seat, but we, his descendants, have never stopped showing up.