Who am I? (part deux)

In my previous post, I showed you where I was born. I am definitely a product of my geography. Here’s why:

For 365+ years, my French Colonial Settler ancestors stole shared (maybe?) land along the shores of the Saint-Lawrence River with several Indigenous Nations. In my family, they intermarried. They mixed. A lot. I’m not sure why, I wasn’t there at the time. They still do!

I hate some of the narratives of conquest and theft of the Indigenous women. I’d rather not think too much that I may be the product of forceful coupling and the other horrors Settlers have done to Indigenous People. The sum of my parts is appalled by it.

I’m so privileged to have known my Mémères (great-grandmothers).Neither of them had ever uttered any unkind words about their spouses who were, like them, the product of métissage. 

I am the only child of the first-born son. I was very close to my grandparents. My grandfather dragged me along. Everywhere. He farmed. He hunted. He gathered. He harvested. He had a couple of trap lines. He logged. He raised horses. I was there for it and they remain some of my most prized memories of my early childhood. I think I will share some of those memories in future posts!