加拿大梅蒂族群（Métis）的法律地位

梅蒂人（Métis）是指加拿大立國之前很久就已存在的族群，他們是早期住在北美洲的印第安人女人和來北美洲墾殖和採集毛皮的歐洲男人而生的人。Métis一詞係拉丁語混種（mix）意思。梅蒂人在食物、衣著、旗幟、生活習俗、文化、歷史、政治參與等等各方面都有其獨特之處，與其他的原住民族群不同。然而加拿大的法律直到「1982年的憲法」才承認他們和印第安人（Indian）和因努依人（Inuit）並列為加拿大的三個原住民族的地位。其法律地位確定後，諸如梅蒂人如何認定、梅蒂人是否有原住民固有權利、其原住民固有權之檢驗標準為何等問題尚有待法院解釋。本文提出13與原住民權益相關之聯邦法律及6個加拿大最高法院針對梅蒂族群案件的判例來闡釋梅蒂族群的法律地位。

關鍵字

梅蒂人；原住民權利；『印地安人法』；『1982憲法』；加拿大最高法院

並列摘要

Métis are the people who had lived in Canada long before Canada was born in 1867. They are descendants of Indian women and European men who immigrated to North America for land development and for fur trade in the early days. Métis is an old Latin word meaning ”mixed.” Métis people have their own culture, history, social fabrics, traditions, and customs that are distinctive from Indians and Inuits. Yet, Métis were not recognized as one of the three Canada's aboriginal peoples until the ”Constitution Act, 1982.” However, the Constitution does not specify how to identify Métis, what their aboriginal rights are, and how to examine whether a Métis person or a Métis group enjoys such rights. This paper presents 13 Canadian federal laws pertaining to aboriginal rights and 6 cases decided by the Supreme Court of Canada to illustrate the legal status of Canada's Métis.