Month: April 2015

Powley. That’s what started it all.

One name. Two guys in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Other than their name, I really don’t know much about them or the details about their case that’s been kicked up and down the Canadian Courts. To be honest and I’m ashamed now, I really didn’t have much interest about it back in 1993 when the events started. I was just living my life, impervious to what many now call as “the first major Aboriginal rights case concerning Métis peoples”

My dad though. He followed the story from the beginning. I can’t say why it interested him, but I suppose that it was because he was also a hunter, and also hunted on lands harvested by our ancestors for centuries. With all the permits, permissions, tags, and whatever else goverments had implemented over the years. Did he ever questioned it? I don’t know.

Originally, he might have been interested in actions taken by “kin” – cousins we knew from our genealogy and family narratives, had traveled West throughout the years. Some settled in Ontario, others pushed farther West across our vast country and parts now known as the United States. They intermarried with other Nations to create the vast patchwork of Métis of today.

That’s a lot of ways to greet you welcome, and here is why:

English: the first language I learned and, I expect, the one I will most likely (but not exclusively) write down my impressions here.
French: my first language of instruction (thanks Bill 22), my French ancestry and the official language of Québec,
Inuktitut: the language of Qiqiqtaaluk Inuit, where I spent my formative years and what I consider the most important time of my life,
Kwei (also Kway, Kwe): in recognition of my Attignawantan (Huron-Wendat), Abenaki and Atikamekw ancestry,
Michif: also Joual, the reason why I’m starting this blog.

I do so to in recognition of all the parts that make the sum of me, and because it directly links to the reason of this blog.

I’m neither a writer nor a scholar – so please forgive me if this isn’t perfectly formatted or doesn’t have proper Introduction, methods and discussion and conclusion! As I’m quickly approaching the half-century mark, I wanted a space to write down some of my narrative and the questions I have as I attempt to reclaim my Indigenous identity.