This initiative emerged from the need to document and share information about the vast and extensive kinship network of thriving mixed-ancestry communities throughout the historic Pacific Northwest. It demonstrates that Métis' self-determination flourished alongside the relationships established between First Nations and fur trading companies.

Pacific Northwest Métis communities were both the product of eastern Métis migration to the West and independent ethnogenesis within the region that now encompasses northern California, Oregon, Washington State, Idaho, western Montana and British Columbia.

The shared history and memory of these integrated, polyvalent, and adaptable Métis communities began as early as the late 1700s and continued well past the period of effective Crown control. Unique Métis peoples existed on the land, accessed resources, and established lifeways alongside their First Nations and settler kin, making significant contributions to the social, economic, cultural and political life of the region.

From the late colonial and early provincial/statehood period to recent times, Métis self-determining communities endured racism, discrimination and hate, which caused some to passively assimilate into settler society, some to integrate with their First Nations kin, and others to isolate themselves from mainstream and First Nations society. Today, the BCMF Research Department is committed to recognizing and reconstituting these important Indigenous kinship networks and restoring the self-determination of all Métis peoples.