To be or not to be… Metis?

I have so many questions … will I ever know the answers?

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I was always told that Metis people were distinct in language and culture.

I probed on a bit (because that’s what I do) and would still ask, ‘but this Metis culture had to come from somewhere, so where?’ And I was still told that Metis are distinct in language and culture. So when people started rewriting their own bios of who they were, first from the Metis Nation and now claiming Cree/Anishinaabe + Irish/Scottish/European instead of saying Metis, I was more than a little confused.

It seems very convoluted, and it may be in some cases, but does this mean the Metis organizations will be shutting down if people are not signing on as members? 

And is that how it works? Because I really don’t know.

But I do know that although you can claim to be Cree/Algonquin/Etc., you may still not have First Nation status. There is a funding pot out there which has recently come with rights, for people who are members of the Metis Nation. But they are our (numbered) Treaty rights – and that’s not right.  But I also know that there are people who identified as Metis, have always identified as Metis, and WILL always identify as Metis, regardless of how much funding or access to resources/hunting/lands/etc., they can get.

And now I ask (as I always do), why are there so many questions?

Lack of knowledge for one, but also because the rule book keeps changing. Educate me. Don’t berate me.

My opinion (and strictly my opinion) on this subject boils down to this – you can have your own spiritual beliefs, or religious beliefs, or neither, because there are so many things we can “choose” to believe, but why isn’t it okay to be whoever you are without having to “claim” or be something you are not.

Well, it is okay. That’s perfectly okay. You do you, authentically.

But what is not okay, is when you use it to inflict harm directly or indirectly towards another human or group of humans for your own ego, selfish gain, stature and greed. We have all seen the many examples of this in the media. This very much ties into speaking for “Indigenous voices” but that is a commentary for another day.

So, people! Again! Be who you are, it’s ok!

But if you are not who you want to be – then you really have to look deep inside you and figure out why that is… and stop blaming and/or CLAIMING.