06/17/2025
Taanishi! Hello!
I have been gone for too long.
It’s time for me to resurface. Let’s start here. With this.
It’s
♾🦬♾🦬♾🦬♾🦬♾
We’re closing in on July.
It was then during the Berry Moon last year when Iskotew came to rearrange our world. Much has happened since then. I will tell you more about it soon. That being said, there is one thing that I should have spoken of already.
It is this…..
This is my friend Vernon Hagen
Vern is a proud Métis man. His chosen occupation is as a member of the RCMP. From an Indigenous perspective, I imagine it’s a role that requires unique balance. It also requires vigilance. Not just to ensure the safety and well-being of all citizens but to ensure that the institution which is the RCMP remains committed to not only telling their own truth but to the reconciliation of it. If you aren’t aware of the role the institution played during the dark times with regard to the Indigenous peoples of these lands that came to be called Canada, you’ll need to get informed. It’s important that you do. And it is also important to understand that this is not ancient history.
I saw Vern twice last year.
The first time was on July 21st at Batoche in Saskatchewan.
Batoche is an extremely significant place to Métis people, both historically and contemporarily. Historically, it was the site of the final and decisive battle of the North-West Resistance which saw the Metis people and our Indigenous allies stand up against the fire of Canada and its bad policies which threatened to burn us down, to subjugate and to assimilate the first peoples of these lands. It also marked the beginning of the “Dark Times”. The beginning of a time when we were put on the run. When we were made to live in the ditch as the “Road Allowance People” or when, many members of the Métis Nation began to hide in plain sight for the better part of 100 years.
Ironically, I arrived home from Batoche on the morning of July 22nd and later that very night I was put on the run by a fire also of Canada’s making, a fire which, once again, was the direct result of bad policies and poor management. Only this time it wasn’t just the Métis who had to run, it was everyone.
Back to batoche. Batoche is now a place of celebration. A place to celebrate who we were, who we are and who we will come to be if and when we get it right. This photo of me standing proudly with these two beautiful people in their red serge, with the Métis sash now complimenting their dress uniform, is emblematic of change and the role that Métis people themselves are taking in ensuring that institutions like the RCMP, or our own systems of governance find their footing on this path and that they and we walk it in a good way.
Why the sash?
The Métis sash is a traditional piece of regalia with a multitude of uses and deep cultural significance for all Métis people. Many families had sash patterns, a direct influence of Scottish culture in the blending of the best that Europe had to offer with the best that our Indigenous mothers cultures had to offer. While its historical uses were many, perhaps, in the modern context, there is none more significant than the beauty of its artistry in showcasing our resurgence and our renewed pride. As Louis Riel, our most famous and revered leader, once said:
“My people will sleep for 100 years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who will
give them their spirit back.”
We are living in those times.
Fast forward to August 17th.
The world had now heard about Iskotew and her swallowing whole of a large portion of our little town in the mountains. Jasper was aflame. At this point, we had been on the run from that fire for almost a month.
The Otipemisiwak Métis Government was holding our annual gathering (AGA) in Amiskwaciwaskahegan (Edmonton) and it was there where I saw Vern for the second time in less than a month. He was in attendance not only as a citizen but representing the RCMP and the role Métis people can play as a member of that institution should they, like him, choose it as an occupation.
As we talked, Vern told me that he had something for me and from a large bag he produced a beautiful sash. It is the same one he and his colleague were wearing at Batoche. He told me that the Métis members of the force had decided to design a pattern that would be significant to those of them who had committed to the RCMP, those who had committed to helping to get things right. Personally, I like that mentality. I am not one to insist on burning s**t down. Which is what they tried to do to us. Which is sometimes what we try to do to ourselves. Rather, I prefer those who try to make themselves and the world around them accountable. Those that make the effort to help fix what they or we broke and those who work towards creating a better future for everyone and everything. After all, that is the spirit of treaty, which is essentially who we are as Métis people.
Vern told me of the significance of the colours and then he held the sash out to me.
“I want to gift this to you.”
“What?”
“I want to gift this to you. You will be the first person other than a Métis member of the RCMP to have one.”
“But I’m not a Mountie.”
“I know but you have done good things for our community. Besides, and you probably don’t know this, your people vouched for my people during the scrip system. They stood up for us.”
I am not one for crying. So I didn’t. I have generally kept my tears inside most of my life. It’s how I was born. Fists up. Teeth clenched. World be**er.
I can’t tell you how honoured I was at that moment. And not just for me. But for all of my people who deserve to hold that sash. From then until now and from now until then.
Of course, I won’t wear it. That honour belongs to those Métis men and women of the force. Those committed to helping us and conversely, Canada, get it right. I will, however, one day have it up on display, in honour of mine and Vern’s shared history and in honour of those who work to get it right.
And especially in honour of Vern himself.
Maarsii/ Kinanaskomitin for the great gift Vern.
I am sorry it took me so long to further acknowledge this and you.
Good luck in the election. I know you would make a great councillor representing the Métis people of St. Albert and subsequently, those of the rest of our nation.
Thanks for being you.
As for the rest of us and our internal growth and struggles, it’s time to come together.
Metis Nation of Alberta Manitoba Métis Federation Métis Nation—Saskatchewan Métis Nation British Columbia Métis Nation of Ontario BC Métis Federation Métis Nation of Alberta Youth
