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We are all aware of what the 60’s scoop, the millennial scoop and all the scoops did to severe connections of people to family. I know people who have made their way back home, to community, to family, and I know some who never were able to, but they found community in the city.
For some people I know, they weren’t so lucky to know their people. The journey back to connect with family and ancestors can wrought with self discovery and self doubt. I have a LOT of compassion and open mindedness about how slow this process is and I take people at their word.
But I also really don’t have patience for people who claim Metis ancestry just because they heard a rumour of “native blood” way back. I wish people would stop doing that.
If you don’t know for sure who your people are. Do the work. Especially if you are being lauded publicly.
If you don’t know for sure who your people are. Do the work. Especially if you are being lauded publicly.
And if you identify as Métis but can’t say what Indigenous language(s) were spoken in your family, what specific Métis community you come from all you know is you had a “native ancestor” with no name, no nation, no community and no language, please stop claiming to be Metis.
Being Métis or more broadly speaking being an Indigenous person, is being part of a living Métis/Indigenous family and community and nation.
And perhaps the most important of all, is language. Language tells us who we are, who our kin is, and how we fit in Creation. The words for ourselves in our languages are not the same as English or French. Indigenous languages are so important in this discussion.
