Silencing the Other Within: Metis Music at Manitoba’s Old-Time Fiddle Competitions

Abstract Abstract. This essay examines Metis-style categories at fiddle contests in Manitoba, Canada. I argue that these categories, although positioned as spaces of alliance, function to contain Metis reemergence and resurgence. Adapting the concept of the “other within” (Bohlman 2000:191), I suggest that Metis-style categories provide a space for settlers to internalize Metis identity. This internalization allows participants to practice a (settler-defined) Metis identity without having to engage with the Metis nation or develop a nation-to-nation relationship. Metis-style categories thus create the semblance of encounter, an act that works to silence the Metis nation.