Province of Manitoba » Aboriginal and Northern Affairs » News & Publications » Publications » Aboriginal People in Manitoba 2000 » Chapter 1 : Demographics » Aboriginal Groups

Aboriginal People in Manitoba 2000 Chapter 1 : Demographics

80,620 or 62.6% of Manitoba’s Aboriginal people fall under the North American Indian classification, according to Statistics Canada data. This includes Status, non-Status, treaty and non-treaty. First Nation groups indigenous to Manitoba include Ojibway, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene.

81,715 or 63.5% of Manitoba’s Aboriginal people are Status Indians; i.e.persons registered under the Indian Act. There is a distinction between the Status Indian group and the North American Indian identity group, because some Status Indians identify with a different group (Metis), and some Indian-identity people are not registered under the Indian Act (Non-Status Indians). In some other provinces, particularly in the east, the Indian-identity group is much larger than the Status Indian group.

Manitoba’s population includes a larger percentage of Metis people than the Canadian average. There are 41,005 Metis people in Manitoba comprising 31.9% of Manitoba’s Aboriginal population,as compared to the Canadian average of 22.4%.⁵

Inuit and non-Status Indians constitute a smaller proportion of Aboriginal people in Manitoba, as compared to the national average.