Half-breed is an obsolete term to offensively describe a person of mixed race. In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, it has often historically referred to half

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

and half

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

Use by governments

United States

In the 19th century, the

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

set aside lands in the western states for people of American Indian and

European American European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

ancestry known as the

Half-Breed Tract A Half-Breed Tract was a segment of land designated in the western states by the United States government in the 19th century specifically for Métis of American Indian and European or European-American ancestry, at the time commonly known as ha ...

. The

Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation The Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation was established by the Fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1830, which set aside a tract of land for the mixed-ancestry descendants of French-Canadian trappers and women of the Oto, Iowa, and Omaha, as well as ...

was established by the Treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1830. In Article 4 of the 1823

Treaty of Fond du Lac The Treaty of Fond du Lac may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in Duluth, Minnesota between the United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American peoples. 1826 Treaty of Fond du Lac The first treaty of Fond du Lac was signed ...

, land was granted to the "half-breeds" of Chippewa descent on the islands and shore of St. Mary's River near

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

. Unusually for its time, under the 1850

Donation Land Claim Act The Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, sometimes known as the Donation Land Act, was a statute enacted by the United States Congress in late 1850, intended to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. It followed the Distribution-Pre ...

, "half-breed Indians" were eligible for land grants in the

Oregon Territory The Territory of Oregon was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 14, 1848, until February 14, 1859, when the southwestern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Oreg ...

, as were married white women.

Canada

During the

Pemmican War The Pemmican War was a series of violent confrontations between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC) in the Canadas from 1812 to 1821. It started after the establishment of the Red River Colony by Thomas Douglas, 5th Ea ...

trials that began in 1818 in Montreal regarding the destruction of the

Selkirk Settlement The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assiniboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hudson's Bay C ...

on the Red River the terms ''Half-Breeds'', '' Bois-Brulés'', ''Brulés'', and ''Métifs'' were defined as "Persons descended from Indian women by white men, and in these trials applied chiefly to those employed by the

North-West Company The North West Company was a Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada and Northwestern Onta ...

". The

Canadian government The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown ( ...

used the term half-breed in the late 19th and early 20th century for people who were of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry. The North-West Half-Breed Commission established by the Canadian government after the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (), was an armed rebellion of Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising of Cree and Assiniboine mostly in the District of Saskatchewan, against the Government of Canada, Canadian government. Important events i ...

also used the term to refer to the

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

residents of the

North-West Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated pop ...

. In 1885, children born in the North-West of Métis parents or "pure Indian and white parents" were defined as half-breeds by the commission and were eligible for "Half-breed" Scrip. In

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

the Métis formed the "Halfbreed Association of Northern Alberta" in 1932.

Geographical names

Halfbreed Lake National Wildlife Refuge Grass Lake National Wildlife Refuge (formerly Halfbreed Lake National Wildlife Refuge) is in the central section of the U.S. state of Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of ...

and Halfbreed Lake in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

In popular culture

* "Half-Breed" is a country and western song recorded by

Marvin Rainwater Marvin Karlton Rainwater (July 2, 1925 – September 17, 2013) was an American country and rockabilly singer and songwriter who had several hits during the late 1950s, including the self-penned " Gonna Find Me a Bluebird" and " Whole Lotta Woman, ...

in 1959, which reached #16 on the US Country Chart. * "

Half-Breed Half-breed is an obsolete term to offensively describe a person of mixed race. In the United States, it has often historically referred to half Native American and half European/white. Use by governments United States In the 19th century, the ...

" is a song recorded by

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

and released as a single in 1973. On October 6, 1973, it became Cher's second US number one hit as a solo artist, and it was her second solo single to hit the top spot in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on the same date."Top Singles"
''RPM'', Volume 20, No. 8, October 06 1973, Library & Archives Canada * ''Halfbreed'' is a memoir written by author

Maria Campbell Maria Campbell (born April 26, 1939 near Park Valley, Saskatchewan) is a Métis author, playwright, broadcaster, filmmaker, and Elder. Campbell is a fluent speaker of four languages: Cree, Michif, Western Ojibwa, and English. Four of her publis ...

published in 1973. The book details her experience growing up as a Métis woman in Canada.

References

External links

Murray Parker: "The Half-breed Savage/ Quanah Parker"
Texas Escapes

Dictionary {{Ethnic slurs Ethnic and religious slurs Multiracial affairs in the Americas English words