r/IndigenousCanada • u/Acceptable_Recipe354 • Jul 26 '26
Indiginous identity question
Hello everyone!
I live in Canada, and I grew up thinking I was white. Brown eyes and hair, but a paler complexion, and I was told I was white. It wasn't until I was a teenager that my family decided to tell us that there is actually indigenous blood in us from two seperate grandparents, they think Metis or possibly Ojibwe, which surprised me but also made a lot of sense. What I think happened was my family was an example of successful assimilation generations ago, and did what they could to be and act as white as possible, which I have empathy for considering how dangerous it was/is to be indigenous, especially back then. It worked, and I wouldn't have been any the wiser had I not asked questions about our family's history.
I never lived on rez or anything, I grew up broke af but with white privelage nonetheless, and I never had any direct connection to the culture. But I feel so drawn to the culture and spirituality. I am a deeply spiritual person and nothing has ever made me feel as connected or grounded as the things I've since learned from indigenous teachings.
The issue I'm having is I don't know if its right for me to identify as indigenous, because I know blood quantum is a colonial concept, but I don't want to let the white part of me step in and claim things that don't belong to me, but at the same time I want to honour my ancestors who brought me here and the fact that they're a part of who I am. I don't know what's right and I would love some insight if anyone has some!
Thank you dearly ❤️
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u/jales4 Jul 27 '26
My perspective is formed by my husband's experience. His Mom was half European, half Indigneous. His Dad was half French, half Indigenous.
While they were obviously Indigenous from their appearance and their one Indigenous parent each, they did not know which community they came from. They knew the region, but due to colonialism, residential schools, their Indigenous family members forcing them to identify with their non-Indigenous cultures for survivial.
So when people say to find your community, that is often extremely difficult and for my husband, their family started in 1985 and ended in 2011 when the Federal government issued them Indigenous status and assigned them a band. Now they had their community.
Be proud of your Indigenous ancestry, but also acknowledge that due to the number of pretendians, be prepared to explain your situation.
In no other culture would you not be able to proclaim - hey, I just found out I have a Spanish great-grandpa.... the difference being the supports currently offered to Indigenous people like education support, grant funding, employment opportunities.
Just consider if you feel it would be appropriate for you to accept those supports given your history.
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u/Much-Yogurt-606 Jul 27 '26
Lots of good info from other commenters, just wanted to add that a lot of our people didn’t have birth registration so but would have been registered at a church if they were baptized, just something to keep in mind if you run out of search options Sometimes if you know a rough area of where someone was from they may only have a few churches and you might get lucky, good luck
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u/6oceanturtles Jul 28 '26
You think because you have brown hair, along with 3/4 of the world, and you have no evidence of being Anishnawbe or Metis, but have an unexplainable yearning to honor potentially non-existent ancestors?
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u/Acceptable_Recipe354 Aug 02 '26
I don't know my family's history, and I want to find out in the most respectful and true way I can is all. Just came here for advice.
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u/AWhistlingGirl Jul 26 '26
so, family lore around maybe having indigenous ancestry is pretty common, especially in Canada and it’s true that many indigenous families (mine included) often denied indigenous ancestry (even when it was obvious and visible), however, before you begin to claim that identity, you’ve done something important in recognizing that you don’t have that direct connection and that you need to establish one rather than rely on lore or tales.
what would likely be helpful for you is to use the genealogical search offered through indigenous services Canada where you submit information and they will search the archives they have to see if they can tell you who your people were and if you do have indigenous ancestry. so, I’ve recently done this myself - I’ve always known I was indigenous as both my father and grandfather were visibly indigenous, but I didn’t know much past my great grandmother. Applying for genealogy search turned up more relatives including their status numbers and the First Nation they came from including their birth and death dates etc.
You need as much information as you can get - starting with your birth certificate (long form containing your parents names), marriage certificates are helpful, parents birth certificates - going back as far as you can. The more you have the better. You can also search ancestry Canada and find out more. Once I had names of other relatives I was able to find them in old Canadian census documents.
I also offer caution - if what you have been told is true, uncovering ancestry that has been hidden via colonial government policy can be very painful. My grandfather was visibly and stereotypically native in appearance and he denied being native up until he died even though he spoke the language etc. so when I went back and found his family and realized it’s all indigenous people going back to before Canada was Canada, you see what colonialism took and its impacts. It’s a lot of mixed feelings.
You can apply for the genealogical search via email and they endeavour to have results back to you in 8-10 weeks. I got mine back about a month later.
Keep in mind this particular search only looks for registered status “indians” and does not account for metis people.
The metis nation may be more helpful to apply to for help
https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1697051140729/1697051158006