Reclaiming the Mixed Blood Story: A Conversation with Brad Mix (Red River Métis) – Sunday, November 16 at 11am

The Cannon Beach History Center & Museum is honored to welcome Brad Mix (Red River Métis) on Sunday, November 16 at 11:00 a.m. as part of The Gathering, Cannon Beach’s annual celebration of Native American Heritage Month.

Now in its third year, The Gathering brings together a weekend of art, music, poetry, and cultural presentations produced by Cannon Beach’s community nonprofits, honoring the rich traditions and enduring presence of Indigenous peoples in the area.

Mix, a storyteller and researcher with deep Métis roots, shares his family’s powerful connection to Louis Riel and the Northwest Resistance of 1885, a pivotal moment in Métis and Canadian history. Born in Gimli, Manitoba in 1954, Mix traces his lineage to Josephine Sauve, Charles Sauve, and Arsinoe Nault, relatives and allies of Riel whose lives shaped the Métis struggle for identity and self-determination.

“I’ve reached a point in my life,” Mix says, “where I feel a responsibility to share what I’ve learned through personal struggle, ceremony, and family research, so these stories don’t disappear with me, like so many Métis stories already have.”

The conversation will explore mixed-blood identity, not only within the Métis Nation but across Indigenous and mixed-heritage communities today.

“This discussion isn’t just about Métis history,” said Zoe Swain, Cultural Outreach Coordinator at the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum. “It’s also about mixed ancestry more broadly. The question of ‘how Indigenous are you?’ can be deeply painful for many people of mixed heritage. What’s so inspiring about the Métis Nation is how they celebrate being both European and Indigenous, embracing that dual identity as strength, not conflict.”

This event will be held on Sunday, November 16 at 11:00 a.m. at the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum, located at 1387 South Spruce Street in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

In solidarity with all Clatsop and Nehalem/Tillamook Peoples, the museum and its community partners express gratitude to every Indigenous ancestor who shared in the art of human community.