The Métis are primarily known for speaking Michif, the official language of the Métis Nation. However, the Métis speak other languages, including French Michif, a dialect of Canadian French with some Algonquian linguistic features, which is spoken in St. Laurent, Man., St. Ambroise, Man., and St. Louis, Sask.; Northern Michif, a Plains Cree dialect with extensive borrowing of French nouns, which is spoken in northwest Saskatchewan in and around Île-à-la-Crosse; nêhinawêwin (Swampy Cree or the “N” dialect), which is spoken by the Métis in Cumberland House, Sask., and in bordering areas of Manitoba; nêhiyawêwin (Plains Cree or “Y” dialect), which is spoken in southern Saskatchewan, Lac La Biche, Alta., and on the Alberta Métis Settlements; nakawēmowin (Saulteaux or Plains Ojibwa), which is spoken in the Interlake region of Manitoba in such places as Duck Bay; dënesųłiné (Chipewyan/Dene), which is spoken by Métis in La Loche, Sask., Fort Chipewyan, Alta., and throughout Northwest Territories. The Métis also spoke Bungi or Bungee, a Métis dialect of English that includes many Cree and Scots Gaelic words. It was spoken in Manitoba wherever Scots-Métis settled. Métis working in the fur trade also spoke Slavey Jargon (Slavey mixed with French and Cree) in what is now southern Yukon, and Chinook Jargon or Chinook Wawa (a trade language made up of Nootka, Chinook, French and English words) throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Michif

In earlier generations, the Métis were probably the most multilingual people in Canada — they spoke their own languages as well as a variety of First Nations and settler languages. Today, the Métis may speak Michif as well as Cree, Saulteaux , Dene and various settler languages. Besides speaking several First Nations and European languages, the Métis also invented Michif, French Michif, Northern Michif and Bungi (a Cree/Scots-Gaelic Creole). All Métis heritage languages are endangered. Losing any of them would be tragic because that would mean losing a rich Oral Tradition, healing traditions, spiritual systems, communitarian values and harvesting strategies.

Michif is spoken in all three Prairie provinces, and into Montana and North Dakota. Michif-speaking communities include those in central and southeastern Saskatchewan (from the Battlefords north to Debden and southeast towards Yorkton and into Qu’Appelle), southern and central Manitoba (St-Lazare, Camperville and Duck Bay), and northern North Dakota, where, in the Turtle Mountains, the language is known as “Turtle Mountain Chippewa-Cree.”