M étis leaders met five decades ago on February 7, 1971 to form the Native Council of Canada [1] . I was elected its first President and we established a permanent presence in Ottawa for the first time in our history. The voice of the Métis rose many times in our past, the most famous occasions being led by Louis Riel during the Métis resistance at Red River, Manitoba in 1869-70 and again at the Battle of Batoche, Saskatchewan in 1885. Earlier in Manitoba, the Métis resisted attempts to limit their ability to hunt, which led to the Battle of Seven Oaks in 1816 [2] . And again in 1849 when the Métis resisted the Hudson’s Bay monopoly on trade and after the trial of Guillame Sayer [3] they cried out “Le commerce est libre; vive la liberté!”. Co-incidentally during this period, the Métis at Sault Ste. Marie Ontario stole canon from the Fort and pointed it at the Mica Bay miners declaring that they had no right to be there – a stand that led to the Rob...