Directory of members
Janine Tougas
An ally of the Métis since her childhood, Janine is a storyteller who has been developing joint projects with the UNMSJM (Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba) for more than 15 years, including educational games and the play La chasse au bison au cœur de la nation métisse. Inspired by her high school classmates, and supported by the UNMSJM Education Committee, she has also written four youth novels in the Voyage Collection (published by Apprentissage illimité) that reflect the current richness of the Métis community. In collaboration with a talented team of Métis and non-Métis educators and illustrators, Métis storytellers and translators, and web designers, she is responsible for the original concept, books, teachers' guides, and English translation. In co-management with Monique LaCoste of Phonique Media for three years, the project Stories of the Red River Cart was launched in 2025. https://redrivercartstories.ca“I grew up in Sainte-Anne-des-Chênes in Manitoba, surrounded by Métis families, and in secondary school, my classmates came from Giroux, La Coulée and Thibautville (Richer). As an adult, my best friend was Métis. It was through this friendship that my awareness was awakened to the suffering experienced by this people, a suffering that my friend herself had endured in the form of shame and humiliation.”
“Stories of the Red River Cart, which I created in close collaboration with members of the UNMSJM, are offered as a sincere act of love to the Métis of my village and to this dear friend. These stories pay tribute to the strength, ingenuity, beauty and joie de vivre of the Métis, as well as bearing witness to the great contributions that the Métis people have made, and continue to make, to Manitoba. My greatest wish is that these stories shed light on the past, present and future of the Métis people, and encourage all those who aspire to live in a more just and appreciative world.”