#raceshifting

Please note that the term “Eastern Métis” in this case refers to a social movement that involves individual and organizational claims to being “Eastern Métis,” “Québec Métis,” “Acadian-Métis,” “Mi’kmaq-Métis,” “Algonquin-Métis,” and increasingly, false claims to being Algonquin, Mi’kmaq, Abenaki, Wendat, and other First Nation peoples whose territories are located in this region.

Hi there,

As someone who is actively attempting to build a modern, inclusive spiritual practice around my ancestry and our rich cultural and religious folk traditions in Quebec and Acadie, seeing this happen angers me. WE already have these beautifully musical, lively cultures full of folktales, spirits, and prayers, heck, we still have the woven ceinture fléchée, something we SHARE with various Indigenous and Métis cultures. You don't need to go shopping for a new identity.

Through the 1970s to today, especially from 2000 to today, there has been an explosive uptick of people in Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes claiming to be Métis. This is often because mostly white French settler Canadians are finding distant Indigenous (or supposedly Indigenous; some have been debunked) ancestors from the 1600s to the 1800s and are now claiming an Indigenous or Métis identity. Worse, they are going to Canadian courts to “fight” for their rights under the Indian Act to hunt, fish, and stay in “traditional lands” that their ancestors were apparently always a part of. They rake in what little funding there is for their own self-serving individualism at the detriment of Indigenous and actual Métis sovereignty, and also committing tax fraud, issuing out their own status cards even!

What it really is, is a vehemence towards living, actual Indigenous nations and the Métis Nation, and attempting to claim rights and tax exemptions. Where were these folks when the residential schools' mass graves started being unearthed, when the 60s Scoop happened, with even now many communities have no potable water? If they didn't know about their ancestry, chances are their every-day life wouldn't change. Every time someone from those groups gets interviewed, they can NEVER really explain the community they’re a part of. They say “it’s complicated”, and they refer to themselves only as individuals with mixed blood, and THAT is what makes them “Eastern Métis”. Worse still, many of them started off as a ‘white rights', white supremacist groups. I see them pop up in news articles about celebrating long-standing friendships between Acadians and Mi'kmaq people, and it sickens me that the news reporters didn't do any further digging.

My own family tree is right within one of those groups’ supposed claims. Peter McLeod Sr. And his wife, Marie Madeleine Manitukueu Tshirnish (died before 1860) are a frequent apparition. It sickens me that they are using this lineage to justify their greed as I’m learning the history that my family went through. When I research into my lineage, I can’t help but try to imagine what must have happened to Marie Madeleine, marrying into a Scottish household that was destroying her land with reckless tree cutting and saw mills. How her daughter Angèle married a settler and farmed. I'm still trying to learn about the Ilnuatsh's people's perception of Peter McLeod Jr., supposed founder of Chicoutimi.

I also think of Angèle’s descendants, like my 4th great grand-father, who was exploring and guiding hunters and tourists through the woods, interacting with  Pekuakamiulnuatsh communities along the way (though I don't know to what degree and with what attitude). And his son clear-cutting the woods in his paper pulp factories. As I want to visit Mashteuiatsh yet again this October to appreciate their amazing Ilnu museum, to enjoy learning about their plant knowledge through their garden tours, and consulting their library, I grow more nervous of even approaching them for more information and see if I can foster community connections. It feels wrong now, even when I tell myself that cultural appreciation is encouraged.

I am no stranger to the initial feeling of ‘wow’ at finding my Indigenous roots in my tree. I get it. But you GOTTA move past it. It’s a complex emotional process, especially when you’re intelligent enough to recognize how colonialism still happens today. For me, the 1800s don’t seem that long ago. I still don’t have a right to claim what’s not mine. I have not had a link to Mashteuiatsh as a community growing up. My extended family lives within Saguenay, not thinking twice about the Ilnuatsh people living there. I don’t live nearby, and I can’t exactly just show up and expect to make friends. But I’d like to. I want to learn Nehlueun and to be humbly present and learn about the Ilnu culture, and most importantly, dedicate time to try to understand their current issues, and support in any way I can. I'm not perfect either. I want to be able to know my ancestors' names, and light a candle for them, remember them in a way that won't be like what these people are doing. Sadly it’s not that simple. And you, race-shifters, are making it so much worse.

Here is a comprehensive list of all these organisations for everyone to consult, so you can watch out for their books, essays, and flag them for what they are: frauds. Don’t support them. You’re probably wondering why I’m sharing a list if that’s going to push people towards them. I need to share it because when I am researching a website source, a reconciliation article on a news website, an essay or a book on history or folklore, they insidiously still manage to find their way in to blabber on and on about their rights. Don’t fall for it. If you see them in a source or bibliography while you’re researching Quebecois and Acadian folk ways, run.

For those interested in further reading, as I will be, here's a great book on this topic. Darryl Leroux is an associate professor at St. Mary's University in Halifax. His work focuses on racism and colonialism among descendants of French settlers.

Darryl Leroux’s book, Distorted Descent: White Claims to Indigenous Identity, 2019.

He is also the co-creator Raceshifting.com, where he monitors these groups and what they're trying to do in court.

Also, support Indigenous authors and artists with this website! I'll be perusing for books myself from Ilnuatsh authors.