METIS MICHIN ROO
METIS MEDICINE WHEEL
The Metis Medicine Wheel is an authentic ancestral hoop that has been used by Metis people for centuries and continues to be used today to remind us of our personal connection to the Creator. Like the Lodge Shield, it is a circle made of willow, representing the never ending life cycle. The leather must be wild deer, elk, or moose and the beads must be of glass. The beads, coloured according to Metis national colours, honour the four directions of the universe. In the center of the wheel is an Abalone shell or a slice of elk horn which honours Mother Earth. The fur incorporated into each piece honours the spirit of the animal and is the same type of animal used by our ancestors for centuries. There are five wild turkey or wild goose feathers on the wheel. Each features four or eight red thunder dots to honour the Ancestors. The fifth feather also has a tuft of white Artic fox or white Artic wolf to represent peace. The long trailing horse hair used on the Wheel honours the horse and sometimes replaces the four feathers on the Medicine Wheel. Six strands of horse hair honour the cardinal points of the universe. The medicine pouch, hanging from the back of the Medicine Wheel, contains sage, tobacco, and cedar. The Medicine Wheel is a tool of power and purpose that Metis use in their everyday lives to help forge our spiritual link with the Creator.


Dan Julian, Metis elder, continues to make the Metis pieces in the same style as it has been done for generations.  Dan has pieces displayed in the Smithsonian and has also done several staffs for the movie "Dances with Wolves".  His wife, Clydette Boyer, is also Metis and is a great inspiration and strong supporter of her husband's quest to preserve their culture. 
 
"My people will sleep for one hundred years and it will be the artists who awaken them".
               --Louis Riel, 1885