Road allowance communities were settlements established by

Métis people 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 hav ...

in Canada in the late 1800s through most of the 20th century on

road allowances The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United St ...

at the margins of settler society. Road allowances are frequently unused portions of land established by the

Dominion Land Survey The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United St ...

for road and rail access to settlements. Métis people were dispossessed from their land in the late 19th century, so they frequently

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

in these unclaimed and marginal spaces.

History

Following the

Red River rebellion The Red River Rebellion (), also known as the Red River Resistance, Red River uprising, or First Riel Rebellion, was the sequence of events that led up to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by Métis leader Louis Riel and his f ...

(1869) and 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 ...

(1885), Métis people were dispossessed from their land through a practice of issuing

scrip A scrip (or ''wikt:chit#Etymology 3, chit'' in India) is any substitute for legal tender. It is often a form of credit (finance), credit. Scrips have been created and used for a variety of reasons, including exploitative payment of employees un ...

that promised land in the Prairie Provinces in exchange for their land rights in more southern homelands. It was generally difficult for Métis people to redeem scrip for their promised lands, forcing them to settle illegally in unclaimed road allowances. After the

Battle of Batoche A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

(1885), many Métis people were burned out of the homes and evicted by settlers; many of their children were sent into the

Canadian Indian residential school system The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by various Christian churches. The sch ...

In 1872, the

established road allowances between surveyed lots for road and rail access and other infrastructure. These strips of land were frequently not used. Between 1930 and 1960, most of the road allowance communities were broken up, often by force. Métis people no longer inhabit these communities, but many do still struggle with lack of housing or squat on unused land.

Description

Historian

Jesse Thistle Jesse Thistle (born 1976) is a Métis-Cree author. He is an assistant professor in the department of humanities at York University in Toronto. He is the author of the 2019 memoir, '' From the Ashes,'' and 2022 poetry book ''Scars and Stars.'' ''F ...

describes road allowance communities as spaces of resilience and cultural resistance. Road allowance settlements typically consisted of log cabins with a tar paper roof. People in these settlements frequently did labour for local farms and were paid minimal wages or were paid in food. Road allowance communities faced extreme poverty and racism, and were frequently forced to relocate. In spite of these hardships, many recollections of life in these settlements describe tight-knit and joyful communities. The settlements were not taxable and did not receive government services. This generally prevented children in road allowance communities from receiving a formal education. The independence of road allowance settlements helped to preserve the people's stories, oral tradition, and culture.

In popular culture

The documentary ''Ashes and Tears'' tells about the forcible relocation of the road allowance community of Lestock to Green Lake in 1949.

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 ...

preserves some of the Métis oral histories of this time in her book, ''

Stories of the Road Allowance People ''Stories of the Road Allowance People'' is a 1995 book by Maria Campbell. The book captures the stories of Métis elders, and is a translation from Michif. Publication and synopsis ''Stories of the Road Allowance People'' was written by Mét ...

''.

References

{{Reflist

History

Description

In popular culture

References

Further reading