The two prairie poles that we now call Winnipeg and Calgary were separated by more than distance in the 19th century. Winnipeg, or Red River, was the centre of the Métis Nation’s political and economic power. Calgary, or Moh’kins’tsis, was part of the Blackfoot Confederacy. While Métis and Blackfoot people could be found in both of these places, that may not mean both places are Métis or Blackfoot territory. This presentation will argue that we can learn a great deal about the contours of Indigenous identity and how those identities are linked to territory by studying the conflicts among Indigenous people(s). In Red River, Métis people formed assemblies and engage in “word slinging” matches with each other about the future of their home. In Moh’kins’tsis, the Métis and their Cree kin were chased away by the guns of Blackfoot peoples until the establishment of the North West Mounted Police. Taken together, these conflicts weave a rich tapestry of belonging and exclusion on the prairies that can show us how we relate to the places we call home.

Daniel Voth, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Calgary, and the Director of the International Indigenous Studies Program. He is Métis from the Métis Nation of the Red River Valley. Raised in Winnipeg’s inner city, Daniel earned his PhD from UBC in 2015. His research agenda focuses on the political relationships between Indigenous peoples, particularly in southern Manitoba, as well as the way settler imposed power structures and land dispossession undermine important gender orientations to governance. His research has been published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science, the University of Toronto Law Journal, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Canadian Journal of Urban Research, and several book chapters.