Half-breed is a term, now considered offensive, used to describe anyone who is of mixed race; although, in the United States, it usually refers to people who are half Native American and half

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

/ white.

Use by governments

United States

In the 19th century the United States government set aside lands in the western states for people of American Indian and

or European-American ancestry known as the

Half-Breed Tract A Half-Breed Tract was a segment of land designated in the western states by the United States government in the 19th century specifically for Métis of American Indian and European or European-American ancestry, at the time commonly known as ha ...

. The

Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation The Nemaha Half-Breed Reservation was established by the Fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1830, which set aside a tract of land for the mixed-ancestry descendants of French-Canadian trappers and women of the Oto, Iowa, and Omaha, as well as ...

was established by the Treaty of Prairie du Chien of 1830. In Article 4 of the 1823

Treaty of Fond du Lac The Treaty of Fond du Lac may refer to either of two treaties made and signed in Duluth, Minnesota between the United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American peoples. 1826 Treaty of Fond du Lac The first treaty of Fond du Lac was signed ...

land was granted to the "half-breeds" of Chippewa descent on the islands and shore of St. Mary's River near

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...

. Unusually for its time, under the 1850 Donation Land Claim Act, "half-breed Indians" were eligible for land grants in the Oregon Territory, as were married white women.

Canada

During the

Pemmican War The Pemmican War was a series of armed confrontations during the North American fur trade between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC) in the years following the establishment of the Red River Colony in 1812 by Lord ...

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 The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

". 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. The North-West Half-Breed Commission established by the Canadian government after the

North-West Rebellion The North-West Rebellion (french: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was a resistance by the Métis people under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine of the District of S ...

also used the term to refer to the

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

residents of the

North-West Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. In 1885 children born in the North-West of Métis parents or "pure Indian and white parents" were defined as half-breeds by the commission and were eligible for "Half-breed" Scrip. In Alberta the Métis formed the "Halfbreed Association of Northern Alberta" in 1932.

Geographical names

Halfbreed Lake National Wildlife Refuge Grass Lake National Wildlife Refuge (formerly Halfbreed Lake National Wildlife Refuge) is in the central section of the U.S. state of Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is border ...

and Halfbreed Lake in Montana

In popular culture

* "Half-Breed" is a country and western song recorded by Marvin Rainwater in 1959, which reached #16 on the US Country Chart. *" Half-Breed" is a song recorded by

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

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."Top Singles"
''RPM'', Volume 20, No. 8, October 06 1973, Library & Archives Canada *''Halfbreed'' is a memoir written by author Maria Campbell published in 1973. The book details her experience growing up as a

woman in Canada.

Notes

External links

Murray Parker: "The Half-breed Savage/ Quanah Parker"
Texas Escapes

Dictionary {{Ethnic slurs Ethnic and religious slurs Multiracial affairs in the Americas English words