Métis jigging demo

The roots of Métis jigging are in Scottish Highland dancing, French jigging and First Nations traditional dance.

The Red River Jig is the signature dance for Métis culture. When the Red River Jig begins, you start with the basic step. A change in the beat of the music signals when to do a fancy step. As the beat moves back and forth, your steps go from a basic step to fancy step to basic step to fancy step and so forth. Traditionally there were 12 change steps but today the innovative younger generations are creating more fancy steps.

This video was included as part of our interpretive space when the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery (MAG) hosted the travelling exhibit "Hiding in Plain Sight: Discovering the Métis Nation in the Archival Records of Library and Archives Canada" from Dec 15th, 2018 - Mar 17th, 2019.

Song credit: "Red River Jig" by Brianna Lizotte.

Try out some steps yourself!

To do the basic step:

• You want to step lightly! So use ‘marshmallow feet’ not ‘elephant feet.’
• Count to a beat of four! For example: One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.
• March in place three times. One, two, three
• On the fourth beat, tap or scuff your raised foot on the ground. When you set your tap foot down – march three more times and tap or scuff your raised foot again.
• Repeat
Another way to get your momentum going for the basic step:
• Hop on one foot.
• While hopping on one foot try kick tapping your other foot three times and then switch feet.

The Métis Sash Dance:

The Red River Jig is played for the Sash Dance. It is done by laying two sashes across each other on the floor. It a replica of the Scottish sword dance, where two swords are crossed on the floor.

In this dance you must listen to the change in the fiddle music to let you know when to do the fancy step. Start with the basic step while dancing in one of the sections divided by sash. When the music changes alternate tapping your toes to the other sections without touching the sashes or side step to the sections on either side of you. When the music changes go back to the basic step.

About the exhibit "Hiding in Plain Sight: Discovering the Métis Nation in the Archival Records of Library and Archives Canada"

This exhibition explores the portrayal of the Métis people—some of whom are “hiding in plain sight”—in reproductions of artworks and photographic collections, and in the accompanying archival descriptions. The exhibition aims to foster a better understanding of the history and culture of the Métis Nation.

The exhibition was developed by Library and Archives Canada in collaboration with the Manitoba Metis Federation and the Métis National Council, with the support of the Government of Canada.

Thank you to our funders who helped make these videos possible: The City of Red Deer and Alberta Foundation for the Arts.