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Daily Life

Way of Life

	Source
	A Métis family

Something that added to the uniqueness of the Métis nation was that, as the children of mainly Aboriginal women and French men, they were able to become middlemen in the fur trade. They could speak the languages of the various groups involved and were able to fit into the worlds of both Aboriginal people and Europeans. They were also excellent buffalo hunters.

Food

Source
Buffalo on the prairies, circa 1902

The Métis ate food they could get by hunting and fishing, like buffalo, deer, moose, elk, prairie chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese and fish. They also gathered berries. Pemmican, made from dried crushed meat, was an important food because it was easy to take on hunting trips and did not go bad.

The Métis also made a type of bread called bannock.

Recipe

Bannock

Ingredients

4 cups of flour
1/2 cup of melted lard
4 teaspoons of baking powder
pinch of salt
11/2 cups of cool water

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add lard and water, and mix well.
3. Knead the dough into one or more large balls.
4. Bake on the oven rack at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Recipe taken from the Alberta Métis Historical Society Website: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/albertametis/lifestyle/food.htm.