Metis Spirits Activity Page

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VOYAGEUR’S WORD SEARCH

E G V Z B A P Q U N R F C D B C O V N B

D R S V W Y S Q L A K E R H A N B M O P

T W X A W V K L U M C K D N A V K U S M

L I A N R E V O G S O F O A I N R U V R

E G A T R O P X P R N E D Y R G T P I Y

V O Y A G E U R R E N G U H E T R E L D

N B T N A V A T K E A S J O C R R F U A

P A O P O E U V C T B O I O T A C U L R

M M M U A M T M A S X S T T R I X D F P

W L H S P D E I U J S L O D E L J V S O

S B U L W V D P Q T X T J E G M H Y K N

D Y I T U O Q L C N U U C D I I A N P C

Y N E A V N B Q E F F S R R W W U R E I

E K B L M P O A A I N K Y Y R R H I M Y

P B R E K P L E H W Z J J E M V Q G M D

C O M N U G S C J B Z U T M Y D M G I N

F B G E E M I L Q A L A C G R C K U C A

S E E D R M R V A U W Z V J X J S Q A L

A J J P W A T N B V N X D J Z Q W O N I

Y G Y G O N T S B E A V E R H X Z E U B

1.VOYAGEUR 2. TRAIL 3. CANOE 
4. AVANT 5. BOURGEOIS 6. CHANTEUR 
7. GOVERNAIL  8. METIS 9. METIS SASH  
10. MICHIF 11. PEMMICAN  12. PORTAGE
13. BOWSMAN 14. FUR TRADER  15. BEAVER 
16. PADDLE 17. STEERSMAN 18. BANNOCK 
19. TUMPLINE 20. WATERWAYS

Metis Spirits - Novel Study

Written by: Deborah L. Delaronde

Metis Spirits

1. Where does the story take place? ________________________________________

2. Who is the main character?

(Hint: There is only one and this is confirmed at the end of the story.) ______________________________________________________________________

3. What is the main character’s problem?

______________________________________________________________________

4. Describe what happened to the main character so that his problem is solved.

______________________________________________________________________

5. Did the main character learn anything from his experience?

Briefly describe and list some of the things he learned.

______________________________________________________________________

Metis Virtual Museum

1. What is the setting for this story?

______________________________________________________________________

2. Who are the main characters?

______________________________________________________________________

3. Brian feels he always has to touch everything that interests him.

What happened as a direct result of his problem?

_____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

4. What is the story problem? Describe how the main characters resolve their problem? ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

5. List some of the things you learned about the Metis after reading this story.

______________________________________________________________________

Steps in Time

1. Who is the main character and what is her problem?

______________________________________________________________________

2. Where was Melissa’s favorite place to go in order to spend time alone?

______________________________________________________________________

3. What happened to Melissa when she went to her great grandmother’s cabin?

______________________________________________________________________

4. What motivated Melissa to wanting to learn to jig?

______________________________________________________________________

5. How did Melissa accomplish her task of learning to jig?

______________________________________________________________________

6. What is the message or moral of the story?

______________________________________________________________________

Between Two Worlds

1. Who are the main characters in this story?

______________________________________________________________________

2. Where does the story take place?

______________________________________________________________________

3. Why did the family need to get away from the city? What was Teddy’s problem?

______________________________________________________________________

4. What task did ‘Papishkon’ give the boys before he could rest in peace and leave

them alone?

______________________________________________________________________

5. What is the author trying to tell us with this story?

______________________________________________________________________

Daniel’s Cultural Essay

1. What is the main character’s assignment at school?

______________________________________________________________________

2. What is the conflict of this story?

______________________________________________________________________

3. In the story, what is the process of making pemmican? Write at least two.

______________________________________________________________________

4. What was the one thing about storing pemmican that Daniel could not find in history

books?

______________________________________________________________________

5. What did you learn about the fur trade?

______________________________________________________________________

The Voyageur’s Symbol

1. Who are the main characters in this story?

______________________________________________________________________

2. Where does the story take place?

______________________________________________________________________

3. What is Jake’s problem with the art gallery?

______________________________________________________________________

4. In the story, what happened to Jake and Pete?

______________________________________________________________________

5. In this story what do you think the author wanted you to learn about the Metis?

______________________________________________________________________

6. At the end of the story, what did Jake discover about who owned the art exhibit?

______________________________________________________________________

Metis Spirits Novel Study Answer Key

Written by: Deborah L. Delaronde

Metis Spirits

1. Where does the story take place?

Answer: The story takes place in a Metis village deep in the forest.

2. Who is the main character? Hint: There is only one and this is confirmed at the

end of the story.

Answer: Joey. At the end of the story, Angus turns out to be a spiritual guide.

3. What is the main character’s problem?

Answer: Joey and Angus are lost in the forest and are trying to find their way home.

4. Describe what happened to the main character so that his problem is solved.

Answer : Joey and Angus hear music and find Patrick tuning a fiddle. He takes

them to his village where Joey and Angus learn how to make and play a fiddle while

they wait to be rescued. It isn’t until Joey agrees to play the fiddle to an audience to

honor the ghosts of the Scottish Metis village that he is rescued. A helicopter spots

him laying in a clearing of the forest. Behind him where the village of cabins had been

were piles of logs.

5. Did the main character learn anything from his experience? Briefly describe and

list some of the things he learned.

Answer: 1. Joey learns how to make a fiddle. 2. He learned how to play a fiddle.

3. Joey learned about the Scottish Metis. 4. Joey learned that it was the

‘Spirit of the Metis’ who saved him in order to share their fiddle making craft.

Metis Virtual Museum

1. What is the setting for this story?

Answer: The story takes place while students are on a field trip to a local museum.

2. Who are the main characters?

Answer: Brian and his friend Dave.

3. Brian feels he always has to touch everything that interests him. What happened

as a direct result of his problem?

Answer: Brian and Dave are transported from the museum to a historical Metis

encampment when Brian touches a ‘Red River Cart’ that is on display at the museum.

4. What is the story problem? Describe how the main characters resolve their problem?

Answer: The story problem is that Brian and Dave think that they’re in a virtual

game and want to get back to the museum but seem to be stuck in the wilderness

with a Metis family. The father is sick and can’t hunt for buffalo in order to feed

his family. It isn’t until Brian and Dave shoot a buffalo and ensure the family’s

survival that they are transported back to their own time in the museum.

5. List some of the things you learned about the Metis after reading this story.

Answer of possible answers:

1. The Metis went on buffalo hunts as a group.

2. Making pemmican was important to survive the long cold winters.

3. What daily life was like for people who lived long ago.

Steps in Time

1. Who is the main character and what is her problem?

Answer: Melissa is the main character. Her family wants her to participate by

jigging in the ‘Annual Metis Week’ assembly. Melissa’s problem is that she

doesn’t know how to jig.

2. Where was Melissa’s favorite place to go in order to spend time alone?

Answer: Her great grandmother’s tamarack log cabin.

3. What happened to Melissa when she went to her great grandmother’s cabin?

Answer: Melissa saw a vision of a lady dressed in a white-buckskin fringed dress.

In the vision, she saw the lady removing one of the stones from the fireplace and

a package that was hidden there.

4. What motivated Melissa to wanting to learn to jig?

Answer: Melissa became motivated by two things. The vision she had of the

beautiful lady dressed in a white buckskin fringed dress and the story that her

parents told her about her great grandmother ‘Minawa’.

5. How did Melissa accomplish her task of learning to jig?

Answer: She asked her friend Amy to help her learn.

6. What is the message or moral of the story?

Answer: Melissa learned how to jig with the help of her grandmother’s

mocassins and felt pride in being a Metis.

Between Two Worlds

1. Who are the main characters in this story?

Answer: Teddy and his brother Tony.

2. Where does the story take place?

Answer: In a log cabin in the bush while on summer vacation with their dad.

3. Why did the family need to get away from the city? What was Teddy’s problem?

Answer: Teddy could see ghosts. His dad and brother Tony could see them

too when they were in his presence. The city was full of ghosts and so they

rented a cabin in the bush to get away from them.

4. What task did ‘Papishkon’ give the boys before he could rest in peace and

leave them alone?

Answer: Papishkon wanted the boys to go to a cave where he left a bag of gold

and a hand-stitched beaded journal his mother had made for him. Papishkon

wanted the journal buried with him at his gravesite.

5. What is the author trying to tell us with this story?

Possible Answers:

1. Being Metis is about learning your family history and appreciating your

cultural background.

2. The story touches upon the important role Metis women played in the

fur trade and being Metis is about choice.

Daniel’s Cultural Essay

1. What is the main character’s assignment at school?

Answer: To write an essay about one interesting thing in his family or an

event that depicts his cultural background.

2. What is the conflict of this story?

Answer: The conflict is in finding family information because Daniel doesn’t

know his cultural background. So he goes to his grandfather who tells him a

story about how his family hunted the buffalo in order to survive. Grandfather

then tells Daniel about his great great grandfather ‘Louison Delaronde’, a

famous Metis guide who worked for the Hudson Bay Company.

3. In the story, what is the process of making pemmican? Write at least two.

Answer:

1. Cut strips of meat to dry.

2. Ground the dried meat.

3. Add berries.

4. Add boiled animal fat.

5. Form pemmican cakes.

4. What was the one thing about storing pemmican that Daniel could not find

in history books?

Answer: ‘There was no mention of storing pemmican in raw buffalo hides.’

5. What did you learn about the fur trade?

Possible answers:

1. The story touches upon the trade contributions (in particular pemmican) of

the Metis to the European people.

2. Pemmican was an important trade item.

The Voyageur’s Symbol

1. Who are the main characters in this story?

Answer: Pete and his friend Jake.

2. Where does the story take place?

Answer: In an art gallery that was displaying a fur trade exhibit.

3. What is Jake’s problem with the art gallery?

Answer: Jake feels that it is a waste of time. What can you learn from looking

at pictures?

4. In the story, what happened to Jake and Pete?

Answer: When Jake leaned forward to look closer at a painting when they

were drawn into it. They experienced what it was like to be a voyageur.

5. In this story what do you think the author wanted you to learn about the Metis?

Possible answers:

1. The teamwork and hard labor as well as the historical contributions by the

Native, Metis and Europeans.

2. About the voyageurs and their transportation of furs and trade goods in

the development and exploration of Canada.

6. At the end of the story, what did Jake discover about who owned the art exhibit?

Answer: Jake’s great grandfather. Jake’s grandfather arranged the field trip with

the school so that Jake would learn about his family history and culture. He also

wanted to encourage Jake to paint.

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1.VOYAGEUR	2. TRAIL	3. CANOE
4. AVANT	5. BOURGEOIS	6. CHANTEUR
7. GOVERNAIL	8. METIS	9. METIS SASH
10. MICHIF	11. PEMMICAN	12. PORTAGE
13. BOWSMAN	14. FUR TRADER	15. BEAVER
16. PADDLE	17. STEERSMAN	18. BANNOCK
19. TUMPLINE	20. WATERWAYS