Métis Nation of Alberta

Children and Family Services

Our Children and Family Services department advocates for the needs of Métis families and children. We support maintaining cultural identity and connections, while providing culturally appropriate and self-directed health and wellness opportunities to address the physical, emotional, mental, and social requirements of Métis people. We work to ensure the rights and dignity of all Métis children and families involved with the child intervention system are honoured, advocated for, and supported.

Consultation

The MNA Consultation Department exists to ensure projects, development, and policy do not adversely impact the rights, claims, and interests of our Citizens.

Broadly, our department consists of:

• Regional Consultation offices staffed with a Consultation Coordinator
• Regional Consultation Committees consisting of the provincial and regional presidents, the Locals in the Region and are chaired by the Regional Consultation Coordinator
• Technical and administrative staff based out of the provincial office, who provide support to Regional Consultation Offices

Communications

Sharing helpful programs, services, and resources with our citizens is a top priority for the MNA Communications department. Our team works with all MNA departments, affiliates, and partner organizations to ensure we engage with our citizens, understand their needs, and share information about the many ways we are working to advance the Nation.

Our Communications team creates all the posters, graphics, social posts, and videos you see on MNA platforms.

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Culture

Our MNA Culture team strives to share and promote Métis culture and heritage to federal, provincial, and municipal governments, schools, and other partners. Our team shares a common vision of developing Métis cultural presentations and informational packages to highlight the uniqueness of Métis culture, history, and heroes. These presentations and informational packages will be developed in a consistent format and reference historical material from the Genealogical Research Centre.

Culture is a very important part of everything that we do at the Métis Nation of Alberta. We work to ensure all staff receive cultural education and incorporate our Métis culture into all departments and programs.

Environment & Climate Change

The Environment department strives to continue reducing our carbon footprint and the damaging effects of climate change, and ultimately preserving Métis traditional and cultural ways of life.

Environment and Climate Change was formed in early 2021 and is divided in two sub-teams:  Environment and Climate.

Our Environment Team is responsible for our environment monitoring and conservation efforts, including Askîy, the MNA’s community-driven environment monitoring initiative.

Our Climate Team is responsible for delivering the MNA Climate Change Action Plan, including collaborative projects related to renewable energy, energy and sustainability, and citizen engagement and policy.

Health

Our Department of Health works to identify and provide culturally appropriate, self-directed health and wellness opportunities that address the unique health profile of Métis Albertans and their communities. This translates into advocacy, policy, program, and service development focusing on the strength and resiliency of our community. Our work recognizes key concepts of cultural safety and trauma associated with historic and ongoing colonialization.

We strive to include the voice of Métis Albertans in all our health-related initiatives.

Métis Identification & Registry Systems

The Métis Identification & Registry Systems (MIRS) team is responsible for issuing MNA citizenship. Citizenship is determined through application forms and validating genealogical research to confirm an applicant’s family tree.

Our MIRS team takes great pride in our extensive Genealogy Research Centre (GRC) located at the Provincial Office in Edmonton. The GRC holds an extensive collection of resources to assist Métis individuals completing their family trees, which is required for citizenship applications. We can also refer applicants to many genealogy-related resources for both in-person and online research.

Youth Programs and Services

Our Youth Programs and Services department is tasked with increasing engagement and interaction with Métis youth aged 12 -29 within each of the MNA’s six regions. Our team addresses the specific needs of Métis youth to provide a sense of belonging to their community and connection to their culture. Each region is supported by a Regional Youth Coordinator responsible for developing programs and delivering services for Métis youth in their community.