'Powerful symbol of the progress we have made': Land being returned to Manitoba Métis Federation

Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.

On Friday, Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) president David Chartrand and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew signed an agreement to transfer the swath of land back to the Red River Métis.

Speaking at the event Friday, Chartrand said, “I made a promise to the people of Ste. Madeleine, their families, one day there will be a time when this will be done right.”

Chartrand said that time was now thanks to the help of Kinew.

“The goal of what we’re trying to accomplish here is we’re trying to right a historic wrong,” Kinew said. “My presence here as the premier of Manitoba, more than anything, is to indicate that what was done to Red River Métis in the past here at Ste. Madeleine was wrong.”

The community of Ste. Madeleine, located just west of Binscarth, was destroyed in 1939 to make way for a pasture because of the federal government’s Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act. The MMF said hundreds of Red River Métis people were forced from their homes as a result.

A historical photo showing veterans living in Ste. Madeleine (Manitoba Metis Federation)

“They shot the dogs and burnt every house,” Chartrand said at an MMF announcement on Thursday. “Our families were fleeing to the nearest farmer [who] hopefully let them build a tent or build a shack to raise their kids… No one said it was wrong. It was not right.”

Ste. Madeleine’s church was dismantled during the razing and only the community’s cemetery remains in place. Since 1990, the MMF and local partners have hosted Ste. Madeleine Métis Days during the third weekend of July to commemorate the event.

From left to right - Jean Fleury, Ste. Madeleine resident, Premier Wab Kinew, MMF President David Chartrand, Chief David LeDoux of Gambler First Nation and Will Goodon, the MMF Housing Minister. July 19, 2024. (Manitoba Metis Federation)

In a letter to Red River Métis citizens, Chartrand said the MMF has fought for decades to reclaim the land and the “historic land return is a direct result of those efforts.”

Chartrand and Kinew signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to initiate the transfer process during this weekend’s Ste. Madeleine Métis Days. In a separate statement, Chartrand pointed out Kinew pledged to return the parcel of land at the MMF’s annual general assembly last fall.

“It is a powerful symbol of the progress we have made towards reconciliation and a brighter future for all Red River Métis people,” Chartrand wrote.

MMF President David Chartrand speaking at the Ste. Madeleine land signing on July 19, 2024. (Manitoba Metis Federation)

The signing took place at the Ste. Madeleine site this afternoon and was live-streamed on YouTube