The Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) is a registered not-for-profit society in Alberta, Canada, that acts as a representative voice on behalf of Métis people within the province. Formed in 1928 as the Métis Association of Alberta, its primary founding members were Felice Callihoo, Joseph Dion, James P. Brady, Malcolm Norris, and Peter Tompkins. The MNA is led by a democratically elected "Provincial President", a position currently () held by Audrey Poitras since 1996, as well as an elected Vice President (VP). The organization also has six regionally-elected presidents and vice presidents, who, together with the Provincial President and VP, make up the MNA's Provincial Council. The organization and its 6 regional boards have branches that deal with unemployment, child services, land agreements, and the rights of Métis people as Aboriginal peoples in Canada (as recognized and affirmed in Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982). The MNA currently has over 50,000 registered citizens. Alberta itself is home to eight Métis Settlements established by provincial legislation; many Métis Settlement members are also registered MNA citizens, but many are not. The Metis Settlements are the only secure Métis land base in Canada, resulting in Alberta having the largest population of declared Métis of any Canadian province. History The Métis Nation within Alberta is an integral part of the larger Métis Nation—a distinct Indigenous people whose homeland stretches across west-central North America. By the early 1800s, the Métis Nation emerged as a new and distinct Indigenous people in what is now western Canada. The Métis Nation developed its own group identity, language (Michif), culture, way of life, and forms of self-government throughout the inter-related communities and territory of their homeland. The Métis Nation Homeland spans present day Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and extends into Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the northern United States. Since the early 20th century, the Métis in Alberta have organized at the provincial level to advocate for the rights and interests that we hold together as an Aboriginal people. In 1928, Felice Callihoo, Joseph Dion, James P. Brady, Malcolm Norris, and Peter Tompkins founded the Association des Métis Alberta et les Territoires du Nord-Ouest, which would later be known as the Métis Association of Alberta (MAA; later renamed the Métis Nation of Alberta). The organization would be the manifestation of the Métis Nation within Alberta's long struggle to have their self-government, rights, and interests recognized within