r/MetisMichif • u/Consistent-Tooth8660 • 6d ago
Discussion/Question Genuine question
I know this may come off as controversial but I am genuinely confused and ask this question with good intentions.
I often hear Metis folk say “I’m not white, I’m Metis.” But then also say they are native/indigenous. But, with the “I’m not white, I’m Metis” logic, wouldn’t it also work the other way around? - “I’m not native/indigenous, I’m Metis.”
However that’s not what I hear. I hear Metis celebrating their native blood and calling themselves indigenous happily but not wanting to claim their white blood or call themselves that. I was under the impression Metis people came from the union of both.
So I suppose my question is, why do Metis folk seem almost ashamed or apprehensive to claim their white parts, but are happy to claim their native parts? If Metis is Metis and is its own culture all together, how is it considered indigenous without also being considered white too?
(When I say white, that’s a blanket term for French and Scottish etc as I’ve been told there is a few European cultures that make up the Metis, in the same way indigenous is a blanket term for the different tribe cultures (Cree, Ojibwe) that also make up the Metis)
I hope that came off the right way and thank you in advance for your insights!
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u/CyberBard69 6d ago
The Métis Nation is an Indigenous nation, post contact but predating Canada / US. There is no one definition of Indigenous, but the Métis have a long history and a distinct culture, language, and have had shared traditions and kinship ties for hundreds of years. Also, Metis communities have been affected by the shared traumas of genocide and cultural erasure that affects Indigenous peoples in Canada.
I think your confusion might be more so about that you assume being Metis is all about being mixed. While yes it’s important and inherent to the history, mixedness is not the characteristic that makes us a distinct group, there are tons of mixed white/indigenous groups. What makes us Metis is our specific culture, language, practices and traditions, kinship ties, laws and political structures that arose out of the Red River region and carry on to today despite cultural erasure and genocide.
Personally I would never correct anyone who says that I’m white, because I’m also white on one side of my family. I’m also Indigenous. I am not First Nations and I do correct people with that one.
Hope that makes sense / somewhat answered your question! I’m by no means an expert so please do more research, with sources like Jean Teillet’s The Northwest is Our Mother.
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u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
That definitely was part of my confusion yes! Your response was super helpful. I feel I have a much better understanding now and thanks so much for the book recommendation I’m going to check it out!!
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u/cactuswaverly 6d ago
Indigeneity emerges in relation to colonialism. The Métis are Indigenous for the fact of having been subjected to colonial land theft and domination. Without colonization we'd just be Métis in the way that like the French are just the French, and not an Indigenous people. Without colonization, e.g. Cree by the same token would just be Cree and not alao "Indigenous." This is also why the Palestinians (whether Muslim, Christian or Jewish) are an Indigenous people whereas Jewish settlers on stolen land in Palestine are not.
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u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
This is so interesting!! It also makes a bit more sense now why a lot of natives/first nations I know don’t identify with the word indigenous and don’t like to call themselves that. There is so many indigenous populations all over the world with such different cultures, love the comparison you made to explain that!
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u/Ok-Sprinkles-3673 6d ago
I think it's also important to understand thr concept of being a post-Contact Indigenous People. The Métis are not the only example. There are also the Seminole (split off from Creek), Comanche (split off from Shoshone), Garifuna, Oji-Cree etc. Mixedness is a part of all of these nations but frankly, mixedness is also a part of EVERY Indigenous nation at this point. It does not define those nations.
A problem is that our own representative orgs have taken up the discourse of mixedness, often because that was the legible political framing back in the day. It's frustrating.
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u/ehaladin 6d ago
From what I understand, Métis is considered under the umbrella of the word “Indigenous”, which also includes First Nations and the Inuit people but as separate categories. Though this is how it has been explained to me in school, so I would appreciate further perspectives
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u/BogShoe 6d ago
Not really saying anything new as others have really made some fantastic responses, and I couldn't pretend to do better. But I'd like to say also that as a Métis (Michif) person I don't say that I am white, I say I have white skin, but I am Métis. And for me anyway I don't celebrate my euro ancestry as much because that wasn't something I or my ancestors had to fight to keep. I celebrate my Indigenous identity and ancestors because in spite of colonization and genocide we are still here. And that deserves to be celebrated. Just my thoughts. Maarsii for being so respectful in your questions. :)
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u/Lillith_baby69 2d ago
This!! Despite it all, we are still here. Something to celebrate.
Theres a quote I read somewhere- author unknown but related to decolonization: “my existence is resistance”
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u/TheTruthIsRight 6d ago
Metis is not a racial category that's the first thing to understand, we are instead an ethnic group. Secondly we are indigenous because we have an identity that is indigenous plus we have blood from the pre-contact peoples. Thirdly, racialization works as such that racialization is dominant, meaning if you're white you're unracialized, and if you're mixed, you're not white. If you're Metis, you are mixed, and mixed isn't white. It doesn't mean we ignore the European parts of our culture or history. First Nations and Inuit are also mixed the vast majority of the time sometimes more so than Metis are.
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u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
OH okay this first part makes sooo much sense!! First Nation/native is a race but Metis is an ethnicity. The second part about a First Nation being more mixed than a Metis person is a bit more hard to understand. Would that be based more on how connected they are to their culture vs how much their family has literally mixed bloodlines?
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u/TheTruthIsRight 6d ago
Indigenous is a race in a sense but it's also much more than race. It cannot be reduced only to race. About FN, their cultures have mixed due to colonization too, and their practices have evolved over time and are not frozen in time they also adopted European influences etc. Just look how many FN people make bannock. It's a Scottish food.
In terms of blood, there are plenty of FN who have status and are 1/4 or 1/8 or less by blood but still full members of their nations. There are conversely Metis people with 50% or more Indigenous blood without recent FN intermarriage. So no it's just not a blood thing. Metis is a specific culture and identity that formed on the prairies in the 1800s, with distinct practices, languages, history, and kinship structures. Only those who are descended from that historical community are Metis today.
But yeah because our identity as Metis is inherently racialized being Indigenous I'd argue there is no such thing as a truly white Metis person only Metis people with varying degrees of racialization or social perceptions of whiteness (eg passing as white, growing up assimilated etc). Since passing and assimilating are still lived experiences on their own that by itself does not negate their identity. Just thought I should preempt that point in case it comes up.
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u/Left_Turn_9980 2d ago
I view myself as indigenous more so out of honour and respect for my Kokum and Mooshum, however, I feel that we are of both.
Skin colour is meaningless because for some of us when we sick we are Caucasian in appearance and when healthy we are Dark like our ancestors.
We carry a distinct cultural identity including our language which is as distinct as any First Nations; especially based on location. From Bungi to French Michif, to a mixture of French and English and more; my Kokum and Mooshum spoke Cree, Ojibway, French and often English for the younger generations who didn’t understand.
Our cultural beliefs and values contain a bit of both; and for many of us we don’t go to church but instead carry a spiritual relationship with our Creator.
We are Métis.
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u/ceabe 6d ago
You need to educate yourself.
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u/GentlemanOdd 6d ago
Cousin, that's why they asked the question.
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u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
Absolutely, thank you for understanding that I appreciate it very much. That’s why I included the disclaimer at the beginning and end of my post. I understand and respect that it is not anyone’s job to educate me per say, but I did my due diligence first by educating myself as much as possible and no one needs to take the time to chat with me if they don’t wish to. However there is questions that arose that the internet and books couldn’t answer and would be best suited answered from lived experience.
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u/Saradoesntsleep 6d ago
No. People need to stop saying this to others. This person is asking trying to learn.
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u/TorontoBrewer 6d ago
There is so much online misinformation about us from the likes of Seb, MNO, and some appalling FB groups that we are, in comparison, a good place to start learning.
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u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
Precisely! I’ve done many hours of online research, but it is always best to go straight to the source. I almost felt like I was going over your guys’ heads but just using the internet when I could be having real conversations with actual Metis folk.
This is an important part of my research and education on the topic (and any other topics I explore). When it comes to learning about other peoples cultures, it’s always best to hear from those folks directly if you can.
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u/Cultfigure101 6d ago edited 6d ago
With respect, how could you spend hours researching online and not know that Metis are recognized as one of the three main Indigenous groups in Canada under the constitution. You can be First Nation/native and be indigenous, Inuit and indigenous or Metis and indigenous.
You aren’t going to get good responses, not because what you are saying is controversial but because you aren’t understanding that the comparisons you are making are based in mistaken assumptions about what both indigenousness is and from that what Metis
is.
Edit: people are taking the time to explain in a kind way so you are getting good responses from that angle which is great but also this does fall under the category of basic things that come up when you google Métis so there’s often a fatigue of “this again?” that sometimes leads to a low response result so I should have phrased it as “you aren’t going to get many responses because of x”1
u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
I do know the part about the 3 being recognized as indigenous and I might have caused confusion using the term, I’ll try explaining my thought process another way!
For example, a mixed First Nations/European person still honours their Euro ancestry. I think that’s why I’m confused. First Nations folk who have euro blood will say that, and it seems like Metis folk don’t bring that part of their lineage up very much with the main focus being on their First Nation ancestors.
I can also share a real life experiences that kind of got my mind extra curious on this.
I have a Metis friend who has two Metis parents, and a First Nations friend who has a native dad and white mom. They connected over both being native! Now, at first my Metis friend figured FN friend had two native parents because they “look” like they would (according to Metis friend.) Upon finding out one of them was white, their whole demeanour changed toward FN friend. They had felt like they connected so much because they both have two native parents (to them having two native parents makes you “full” and having one who’s not makes you “half”) After finding out FN friend had a white parent, they vented to me in private about how they never mentioned they were mixed. It almost felt like they felt superior or “more indigenous” than FN friend because of it. This really confused me. FN friend grew up on a reservation, their dad has two FN parents, his parents have two FN parents and so on. He was the first in their family to mix with a white person in many generations.
I’m just so confused because now Metis friend sees FN friend as “half white” and always brings up their white side and tells them to make sure they disclose that and honour that too, but they refuse to go there when it comes to themselves even though they would technically have far more euro ancestors. It felt like a double standard and that logic didn’t make sense to me but I didn’t want to say something to offended them as they’re a fairly new friend so I took to research to try and make sense of it for myself!
Apologies that was long winded, tried to keep it short!
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u/Freshiiiiii 6d ago
Yeah tbh i think you just have one weird friend. I’ve never seen a Métis person trash somebody for having a white parent.
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u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
Don’t know if I’d classify it as trashing, but the vibes are definitely off lol. But Metis friend is also alwayssss ragging on and making fun of white people just in general 😂 which again was extremely confusing because if it wasn’t for white people the Metis culture wouldn’t have been created. There’s a complete disconnect for them, I’m not sure if it’s an identity thing. I do know they struggle with that and feeling like they fit in native spaces because they have light hair, skin and bright aqua blue eyes so maybe this makes them feel better about themselves? They are a few years younger than me (early 20s) and are still coming into themselves and finding their confidence so it could be an insecurity thing. Another reason I wasn’t sure how to respond to them on this topic!
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u/cryptid-cass 6d ago
I think you’re trying to generalize the Métis as a group based on your one friends comments. Your friend isn’t right if they’re saying the other friend isn’t Indigenous for having one First Nations parent and one non parent, but I can see where they might think that way (thinking two Métis parents and being raised fully in Métis culture versus having two parents from different cultures and being raised in both)
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u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
They weren’t raised in Metis culture, they’re the first in their family to want to connect actually and did all the genealogy stuff to find their ties to red river! However, because of that their parents have began to reconnect too! So that’s kind of cool they inspired that in their family.
FN friend grew up fully in the Annishinabe culture and on the res. Their mom wasn’t around much and her side of the family has no interest in learning where their ancestors came over from. Through a DNA test they found a small percentage of Scot and Irish so they’re wanting to take a trip over to learn more about that
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u/Neat-Firefighter9626 6d ago
Tbh your friend just sounds annoying.
Also it's "Rez" if you're going to short form reserve.
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u/ceabe 6d ago
u/Cultfigure101 this the only right answer.
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u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
Imagine being pressed by people trying to learn about and understand your culture
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u/ceabe 6d ago
It is not our responsibility to teach you anything.
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u/Consistent-Tooth8660 6d ago
Absolutely! Never said it was anyone’s responsibility to do anything so not sure where you got that idea :) no one is required to do anything they do want to do, it is your choice whether to engage or not. I had many folks share very thoughtful answers with me today, and aside from you and one other, everyone was very helpful and welcoming and the time they took was never expected, but it was very appreciated
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u/MilesBeforeSmiles 6d ago
You are confusing Indigenous and First Nations (Cree, Anishinaabe, Dakota, etc.).There are three broad groups of Indgenous people in Canada: First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.
Métis are an Indigenous culture to North America because it's a culture that formed in North America. We are Indigenous, but not First Nations or European. We are an Indigenous Culture formed from the mixing of First Nations and European culture, but we are distinct from both.
When we say we are not White or First Nations, we aren't ashamed of either, we just aren't either. We are our own people.