alright, let's do this.

i was going to start with the BC Metis Federation's Terrestrial Study, but actually i want to start with the letter sent to the BCMF from the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council sent the BCMF in response to their rights claim in Secwepec'ulcw.

The Shuswap Nation Tribal Council's letter ( http://bcmetis.com/wp-content/uploads/Secwepmec-Letter-Metis-Rights-December-2020.pdf) is an incredible act of diplomacy and an assertion of their sovereignty and rights in their own lands.

it is embarrassing on behalf of all Metis people in BC, that the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council in a letter to BCMF, had to tell them where our own homelands are and cite our own homeland maps and tell us where our home is (and it's not on their lands).

i am saying "us" because regardless of how i feel or view the BCMF, what they are doing is impacting ALL of the Metis in BC. it is calling us in to hold accountability for the impact and harm this narrative is creating.

in this letter, the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council clearly states that they have no contention with our homeland claims east of the Rockies. the choice of the BCMF (and MNBC with their broad "Tale of Two Nations" claim to BC) has left them no choice but to defend their territory.

i can't express, how embarrassing and shameful it is to me, as an apihtaw'kos'an woman who is aging out of youth into the next phase of my life, to see this sort or colonial violence enacted by people who share a Nation with me.

because again, even though at the end of the day, regardless of the lackadaisical regulation the BCMF has for their membership, this came from Metis authorship. this makes my heart hurt for future Metis generations. this isn't being a good kin to our next generations.

this is not acting within good kinship and on good faith with the First Nations peoples in unceded "British Columbia" this is furthering a colonial mentality and governance structure, something that the BCMF is apparently fighting against with their organization.

so @BCMetis you want a "respectful" conversation, let's have one. what you are doing is flying directly in the face of diplomacy, it is furthering the divide in First Nations and Metis kinship. it is furthering Canadian colonial governing you are playing into the colonizer's hand

the disrespect, the audacity, the blatant disregard for actual Metis governing. if there were Metis people in Secwepemc territory historically, you just disrespected the potentiality of any good faith relationships that may have existed. you created hostility.

instead of going to the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council, instead of going to the community, instead of taking to Secwepmec Elders about their lands, you went to National Resources Canada to fund a terrestrial study of land use in their Nation.

to put this quite bluntly, you went over the an Indigenous Nation to the Settler Government to fund your study for your claim. you say this is for the future, it's for the "reclamation" and "repatriation" of knowledge and culture, but all you did was patronize Secwepemc people.

you forced another Nation's hand in reprimanding Metis people. not only did you undermine their sovereignty, you undermined the sovereignty of all Indigenous peoples in so called "Canada".

ok, let's touch on (your) the BCMF's terrestrial study:
http://bcmetis.com/wp-content/uploads/BC-Me%CC%81tis-Federation-Terrestrial-Study-June-2020.pdf
which hilariously, is started with a land acknowledgement.

first i let's unpack this (a little bit, i'm really tired you guys)

first of all, First Nation's definition of community is not congruent on only land and resource rights, speaking of disrespectful. furthermore, there is no explanation of what is meant by national Metis organizations definitions outside of "rights bearing citizens".

i do think it is INTERESTING that for an organization that is so vehemently disregarding the "liberal Crown" definition of community, they were pretty quick to goto the feds for money and legitimization, but .

actually you know what. i'm not going to engage further with their terrestrial study. the most important thing in this, is the letter from the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council, read that.