The goal of a Métis history in Saskatoon research project is to have some information available to the public and possibly education for school divisions to access.

USask assistant professor, Dr. Cheryl Troupe is tracing Métis presence in Saskatoon to increase public awareness of Métis history and the impacts of settler colonialism.

One of the topics will be how Métis people experienced racism, but Troupe wants to be thoughtful in how the stories are presented, so those who have been interviewed will feel comfortable.

She notes that Métis people have been living in Saskatoon longer than some might think.

Troupe explains that in Prairie cities, the common thought is that Indigenous Peoples started moving to urban centres in the 1960s, after Indian Act restrictions were loosened, but actually Métis people have been in Saskatoon much longer than that.

Many were moving to the city by the 1930s but were also coming prior to that for economic reasons since Saskatoon’s earliest days.
In the mid-1800s, the Métis hunted bison in present-day Saskatoon, Troupe is gathering family genealogies, doing archival research, mapping out where Métis people gathered in the city, and oral histories.

This is a Research Junction project with the City of Saskatoon.