The Métis are often referred to as Canada’s “invisible people” – the “ghosts of the land” – whose stories haunt the country’s collective unconscious. Lii Michif Niiyanaan: We Are Métis is a one-hour documentary that addresses this invisibility by shining a new light on the historical and contemporary experience of Métis people in Canada and providing a space for Métis people to share their diverse perspectives on what it means to be Métis today.

Known to some as Half-breeds, and to others as otipemsiwak – “the people who own themselves” – the Métis are the vibrant result of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry and are one of three recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Yet most Canadians know little about the unique place of the Métis in the Canadian mosaic, or what former BC Supreme Court Justice Thomas Berger calls “the unfinished business of reconciliation” between the Métis and the Canadian state. Featuring the voices of Métis Elders, artists, activists and scholars, Lii Michif Niiyanaan makes an essential contribution to this national conversation. The film is a love letter to the courage, determination, and resilient spirit of the Métis Nation, and a call for all Canadians to embrace the richness of their shared history.

Directors: Madeline Ell and Gregory Coyes
Producers: Christine Welsh and Gregory Coyes
Executive Producer: Jeannine Carrière