Credit: Micheal Mayzel
Open Letter: Maxim Cormier
Facing online pressure from a circle of academic/activists who posit that Acadian-Métis do not exist as “authentic” Indigenous people, a young musician named Maxim Cormier, descendant from the Mius family of Cape Sable, has been stripped by the ECMA of his nomination for 2018 Indigenous Artist of the Year.
In support of Maxim, I wrote an eight-page Open Letter stating the reasons why I believe this is a mistake, trumping not only’s Maxim’s rights, but the self-determination rights of the Acadian-Métis per article 33 of the United Nation Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
Working in collaboration with Acadian-Métis researchers from Nova Scotia and Ontario, Chris Boudreau, and Jo-Anne Muise Lawless, I have assisted in the production of a Report entitled An Ethnographic Report on the Acadian-Métis (Sang-Mêlés) People of Southwest Nova Scotia. In this report, we present evidence that supports our arguments in more detail (126 pages).
The story of Maxim Cormier can be found by clicking on the picture:
For my 8-page open letter, please click on the picture or the link below:
Sébastien Malette, Ph.D. 