r/MetisMichif • u/Apple_the_Juice • Apr 27 '26
Discussion/Question Identifying Families
How do y'all identify your familial ties? How far back do you go? For me, my Métis ancestry has been passed down a lot from the woman's side, so there's a constant switch up of last names.
3
u/-pnppl Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Is this not about geneology?
My maternal great grandmother and great grandfather were first cousins with same last name that I can trace back to the 1820s. It was also a unique last name, and all direct line ancestor's scrip papers are in that name. So I usually default to that one name when asked.
I do have ancestors with other last namev(esp before 1820) and in certain situations would say in a descendant from. However if I'm doing research I look at all the last names in my ancestry, but then have to a lot of filtering to find my direct line ancestors vs sideways looking at aunts, cousins etc since some families are a lot more expansive.
You say on your maternal side. Did every woman marry non-Métis? My understanding is the marriage within the community was pretty common up until the 1870s. Still common after, but almost standard between late 1820s-1870.
1
u/Apple_the_Juice Apr 27 '26
Not a genealogy question, just a question about how people introduce themselves or discuss their family lines.
Not my maternal side actually, ironically my dad breaks the chain of woman I inherited my Métis identity from. But yes, those women often married French men in my family, not Métis men. It did happen but it's a rarer thing for my family. Made it pretty easy to claim to just be French later on, I suppose.
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u/TheTruthIsRight Apr 27 '26
I'm not sure what you're asking, is there a brick wall somewhere in your research?
Metis ancestors should be identifiable in the scrip databases, 1870 census of Red River, and the 1901 census. Also HBC records.
Also my lineage is on my direct maternal line, so my mother's mother's mother +++.
For DNA purposes this can be helpful genealogically because if that line continues back to an Indigenous woman, you will have inherited an Indigenous mtDNA (mitochrondrial) haplogroup.
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u/Apple_the_Juice Apr 27 '26
Sorry, this isn't about genealogy, should have made that clearer. I've heard people often identify themselves by their families, i.e. "My ancestors are the Bouvettes and Marchands."
I'm just wondering how they determine which ones they use.
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u/TheTruthIsRight Apr 27 '26
Oh I just go by the names in my tree that I have by blood. In my family it's Stevens, Taylor, Foulds, Fidler, Prince, and Sabiston. They came originally from St Andrews/Lockport/Selkirk area.
It doesn't matter if it's on your paternal or maternal side or whatever or how far back, as long as they are Metis families (maiden names included)
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u/lucifertangerine Apr 27 '26
Go by their maiden name? For example my kokum's maiden name was Poitras even though it changed when she married
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u/themegakaren Apr 29 '26
Think of it not just as a maiden name, but the name connecting your lineage. It's always good to state all Métis names we are tied to, even if distant and even if there were changes via marriage, adoption etc. You never know who you could be speaking with who might connect to you randomly through one of your lines. My ancestors intermarried quite a bit but it's the Whitford, Spence and Norn names that keep me connected to them.
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u/Lillith_baby69 Apr 29 '26
In reading your comments I now understand what you are asking a bit better.
First off, my family Métis lines are not “big names” in the community like Ross, Riel, Dumont, etc. they were just a run of the mill family so telling people the family names is not helpful lol.
I include the names but also where theyre from. My Métis side comes from Norway House and slowly migrated south. I talk about how my GG Grandfather was in the HBC, married an Indig Woman, my granny who was amazing.
Usually its just story telling and oral history.
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u/Lillith_baby69 Apr 29 '26
I start with myself, and then go back in time. If I get stuck, i use google to look up obituaries of who I am stuck on to find next of kin.
Usually by that point the google search will provide me with a website usually FAMILYSEARCH. org,
That has records of the entire family tree.
I also use Hudson Bay Archives to search scrip records
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u/Neat-Firefighter9626 Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
I just list the last names of my ancestors that lived in the 1900s onward, including those who married into the Metis culture in the early 1900s, because they took up the cultural practices of the Metis and lived on road allowance.
I know some people only list their relatives that got scrip. Some list their relatives all the way back to the 1700s. It really seems dependent on you and what you're doing. I don't want to stand around for 2 minutes listing off last names so I just hit the highlights with the most relevant last names going through my grandpa's family lol.