Mitchif

[George Lang]

A chronological point: though I am spiritually in agreement with MC's
reading of the mixed nature of the Montreal fur trade, Mitchif, properly
speaking did not exist until the 1820s, at least according to Peter
Bakker (A Language of Our Own, Oxford, recent).   "Mitchif" here
should be distinguished from the Metis dialects of French, about
which we still know very little.

Peter Bakker's argument is that the conditions which brought together
the Plains Cree, Ojibwe and French elements of Mitchif did not exist
until large-scale buffalo hunts were organized to provide for HBC
needs (all the way to the Pacific Coast --  the continentals never
developing a taste for salmon).

Male prairie Metis specialized in this sector, and defined themselves
though well before Louis Riel came onto the scene.
George