During the Pemmican War trials that began in 1818 in Montreal regarding the destruction of the Selkirk Settlement on the Red River the terms Half-Breeds, Bois-Brulés, Brulés and Métifs were defined as "Persons descended from Indian women by white men, and in these trials applied chiefly to those employed by the North-West Company".[4]
The Canadian government used the term half-breed in the late 19th and early 20th century for people who were of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry.[5] The North-West Half-Breed Commission established by the Canadian government after the North West Rebellion also used the term to refer to the Métis residents of the North-West Territories. In 1885 children born in the Northwest of Métis parents or "pure Indian and white parents" were defined as half-breeds by the commission and were eligible for "Half-breed" Scrip.[6][7][8]
InAlberta the Métis formed the "Halfbreed Association of Northern Alberta" in 1932.[9]
Alan Dwan's silent film The Half-Breed (1916 film) starring Douglas Fairbanks about a half Native American/American man who's guardian dies and is kicked out of his home and must prepare a new life in the world of ruthless white men who constantly insult him.
The villain of Mark Twain's novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, is a Native American-European-American man named "Injun Joe"; he is referred to as a "half-breed", often together with a derogatory adjective, such as "stinking," and has a violent and homicidal personality, which is attributed to his heritage.
Several Western films feature characters with both White American and Native American blood, who are more often than not referred to as "half-breeds" as an insult; such characters include "Keoma" from the eponymous film, and "Chato" from Chato's Land.
"Half-Breed" is a song recorded by Cher and released as a single in 1973. On October 6, 1973, it became Cher's second U.S. number one hit as a solo artist, and it was her second solo single to hit the top spot in Canada on the same date.[10]
Further reading
Hudson, Charles. Red, White, and Black: Symposium on Indians in the Old South, Southern Anthropological Society, 1971. ISBN9780820303086.
Perdue, Theda. Mixed Blood Indians, The University of Georgia Press, 2003. ISBN0-8203-2731-X.
^"Northwest "Half-breed" Scrip". Métis National Council Historical Database. Archived from the original on 2014-12-03. Retrieved 2015-01-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)