Métis
The Métis (pronounced /ˈmeɪtɨs/ "MAY-tis" in English,^[3] IPA: [meˈtsɪs] in Quebec French, [meˈtis] in Standard French,^[4] [mɪˈtʃɪf] in Michif), also historically known as Bois Brule, mixed-bloods, Countryborn (or Anglo-Métis), are one of three recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Their homeland consists of the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, as well as the Northwest Territories. The Métis Homeland also includes parts of the northern United States (specifically Montana, North Dakota, and northwest Minnesota).

The Métis Nation consists of descendants of marriages of Woodland Cree, Ojibway, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to French Canadians, Scots and English. Their history dates to the mid-seventeenth century. Historically, many (but not all) Métis spoke a mixed language called Michif. Michif is a phonetic spelling of the Métis pronunciation of Métif, a variant of Métis. The Métis today predominantly speak English, with French a strong second language, as well as numerous aboriginal tongues. The encouragement and use of Michif is growing due to outreach within the provincial Métis councils after at least a generation of decline.

The word Métis (the singular, plural and adjectival forms are the same) is French, and a cognate of the Spanish word mestizo. It carries the same connotation of "mixed blood"; traced back far enough it stems from the Latin word mixtus, the past participle of the verb "to mix".

Countless Métis over time are thought to have been absorbed and assimilated into the surrounding populations making Métis heritage (and thereby Aboriginal ancestry) more common than sometimes realized. Recent research and DNA analysis has often shown forgotten Aboriginal lineages in many people of French Canadian and Acadian descent.

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