Long before Canada was a country, the Métis Nation was a sovereign nation with its own laws and systems of government. The Plains Cree called the Métis the Otipemisiwak, the people who governed themselves. They had a long history of “pushing back” against Canadian assimilative processes. This short program examines how the Métis sought to maintain their way of life. In 1849, a force of warriors and Anishinaabeg forced the Quebec and Lake Superior Mining Association to stop operating a mine and led to the signing of the Robinson treaty. These early incidents were the “dress rehearsals” for the Métis resistance on the Prairies. Led by Louis Riel, the Métis sought to maintain their rights. The Red River Rebellion was the first crisis the new federal government faced after Confederation. In the aftermath, the Dominion Land Act paved the way for the infamous scrip system in an ineffectual attempt to extinguish the land rights of Métis.