Michif (also Mitchif, Mechif, Michif-Cree, Métif, Métchif, French Cree) is one of the languages of the Métis people of Canada and the United States, who are the descendants of First Nations (mainly Cree, Nakota, and Ojibwe) and fur trade workers of white ancestry (mainly French). The fathers of the Metis Nation were also known as voyageurs, the expert canoeists whose main occupation involved traveling long distances and trading with First Nations. This occupation also required forging relationships and common language with Indigenous contacts. The voyageurs and Indigenous women began intermarrying as early as the 1780s and 1790s, combining predominantly Catholic French culture with First Nations culture. Michif emerged in the early 19th century as a mixed language and adopted a consistent character between about 1820 and 1840.
The geographical distribution of Metis communities has resulted in the formation of multiple dialects of Metis languages, as well as multiple names for said dialects (Rosen 2008, 613). Michif is the most common title of this language. One form of Michif combines Cree and Métis French (Rhodes 1977, Bakker 1997:85), a variety of Canadian French, with some additional borrowing from English and indigenous languages of the Americas such as Ojibwe and Assiniboine. It is widely accepted that the Algonquian language family contributed both Cree and Ojibwe, while the settlers introduced French, and to a lesser degree English (Barkwell, Dorion, and Préfontaine 1999; Bakker 1997; Rosen 2008; Gillon & Rosen 2016; Teillet 2019.) Peter Bakker contributed a foundational work to the study of Michif, but Metis scholars have argued that his research poorly understood their language and culture, and should therefore be examined critically, especially as it relates to phonology and syntax (Barkwell, Dorian, and Préfontaine 1999, 1-5). In general, Michif noun phrase phonology, lexicon, morphology, and syntax are derived from Métis French, while verb phrase phonology, lexicon, morphology, and syntax are from a southern variety of Plains Cree (a western dialect of Cree). Articles and adjectives are also of Métis French origin but demonstratives are from Plains Cree.
