Freedom is the core value of the Métis Nation. The Nation was born and forged in a fight for freedom. That core value is expressed in the infinity symbol on the flag of the Métis Nation.
There have been many theories about why the infinity symbol was chosen. Some say the two joined circles are two Red River cartwheels placed together. Others say it is the joining of two peoples, Canadians and First Nations. Some say it is based on the Scottish flag of St. Andrew. These are all interesting and fanciful theories that have no historical foundation. In fact, no one knows whose idea it was to put the infinity symbol on the flag in 1815 or why the infinity symbol was chosen.1
Though the reason for choosing the infinity symbol is lost to history, it has always been a good symbol for the Métis Nation. The symbol suggests that the future and the past are inescapably bound together, ever circling and feeding each other. The symbol also suggests the idea of infinite freedom from boundaries and arbitrary limitations. These ideas—freedom and the relationship of the past to the future—lie at the heart of the Métis Nation’s raison d’être.
The Métis Nation’s ancestors sought freedom, and with that freedom they chose to become a separate people. It was a grand imagining and the Nation has spent two hundred years fighting for the freedom to continue that dream. In the course of that long battle, they have had to convince others of their existence as a collective. The Métis Nation has been forged in this battle for freedom, recognition, land, resources and rights.
During that time, it has suffered losses, but it has also moved forward. Today it is in a new era in Indigenous-Crown relations. Canada has generally accepted the need for reconciliation with its Indigenous peoples, including the Métis Nation. On April 13, 2017, Canada and the Métis National Council signed a new Métis Nation Accord. In the new accord, Canada agrees that it is in everyone’s best interest to work with the Métis Nation on a nation-to-nation, government-to-government relationship, to end the legacy of colonialism in federal legislation, policies and practices, and to uphold the special constitutional relationship between the Métis Nation and the Crown as “partners in Confederation.” This is what the Métis Nation has always sought. They have fought for the right to be just such a partner.
The Métis Nation is an Indigenous nation of the Canadian North-West with a storied history. It is a case history of powerful imagination made real. The people stand firmly on their history, secure in their belief that their past battles, celebrated in their stories and songs, will eventually enable a future where they will be free to be the nation of their dreams, the one they first sang into being in 1816.