Rekindling the Sacred Fire: Metis Ancestry and Anishinaabe Spirituality

Why don’t more Metis people go to traditional ceremonies? How does going to ceremonies impact Metis identity? In Rekindling the Sacred Fire, Chantal Fiola investigates the relationship between Red River Metis ancestry, Anishinaabe spirituality, and identity, bringing into focus the ongoing historical impacts of colonization upon Metis relationships with spirituality on the Canadian prairies. Using a methodology rooted in an Indigenous world view, Fiola interviews eighteen people with Metis ancestry, or an historic familial connection to the Red River Metis, who participate in Anishinaabe ceremonies, sharing stories about family history, self-identification, and their relationships with Aboriginal and Eurocanadian cultures and spiritualities.