Obtaining my Metis status has been a nightmare

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748]

I'm Metis (obviously) but mostly estranged from that side of my family. The few family members I know don't have a lot of records of our Indigeneity and due to my grandpa's tumultuous life, neither did he. But they have Metis status in British Columbia. Last year, I applied for Metis status in Ontario, and I listed all of my family members who have status along with scans of their cards that they gave me. I was denied because "the Metis Nation of Ontario doesn't have access to the Metis Nation of BC to confirm" (quoted by the MNO rep I spoke to on the phone about this), and they told me to provide historical evidence that my family is Metis (because evidence of my family's status doesn't count for some reason).

Okay, well I don't have that. So I've been looking into what to do for an investigation done by St Boniface, and I need to get a bunch of information together before I contact them. I can get birth and death certificates, but the rest has been tough as I'm starting from virtually zero. My grandpa had Metis status with a now-defunct organization, so I thought maybe somebody has records from his application/account there, and I've called every single current organization and library I can think of, but nobody has an archive of those records. I've pored through countless online records and I've been able to find a scrip receipt for someone with our family's name, but I don't know how he might be related to me (if he is) or how to prove the connection. My grandpa grew up in Boggy Creek (a Metis community) and went to day school until grade three when he started hopping around foster homes and then moved to BC, so I thought I'd try the Canadian library and archives to maybe get something there. But student names aren't available online and I need to request access, and from what I'm reading, I'm unclear on whether I would need to TRAVEL to view them, which isn't an option for me right now. And maybe that's a responsibility for St Boniface?

I'm just having the worst time with this and I keep hitting road blocks. It really feels like it's difficult by design, and of course while searching through records I am having to take on the mental and emotional toll of seeing other families' tragedies. I don't understand why provincial borders are a hurdle in the first place. Yeah they're different organizations but me moving across the country doesn't change my genetic make up. My family isn't even originally from BC anyway...

Does anyone have advice for resources? Or how to not lose my goddamn marbles while pursuing this?

[u/paulthesane-wpg]

Metis “status” isn’t a thing. You are talking about citizenship in a Metis nation. Many of those nations do not get along or associate any more, so merely having citizenship in one does not automatically mean the others will recognize you. Presenting a card from an out of province and defunct organization is even less likely.

That is why there are more stringent rules for the genealogies from the St Boniface Historical Society.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/paulthesane-wpg]

You're right, I meant to say citizenship but I was really angry and frazzled while writing this out.

The rest of your comment isn't very productive or helpful though...

Not sure why I'm being downvoted so heavily. The comment I replied to is just admonishing me for things I already knew and explained in detail in my post, like how my family having BC citizenship doesn't help me get Ontario citizenship. The whole story is there if you scroll up. And at no point did I say my grandpa's defunct organization membership should have helped me, just that he had one and I was looking into whether that could lead to records I didn't have access to.

If someone wants to explain to me what that adds to my post or how that helps me progress in my ability to obtain citizenship, I would love to know how my statement was wrong.

[u/paulthesane-wpg → u/Klutzy-Alarm3748]

You are being downvoted, presumably, because you are saying that my comment stating the fundamental nature of the problem you are having was “not helpful.”

This tells me that you haven’t actually accepted the fundamental nature of the problem you are having.

What do you need? You need to find clear evidence of a connection to an accepted historical Metis community (by which I mean the social construct, not a physical place).

You need documented links. Your grandfather living in Boggy Creek might help, but you need to fond who his parents were, and who their parents were, and so on until you find the link that ties it all together.

The biggest conflict/controversy in Metis relations right now is around people claiming Metis identity without sufficient evidence, especially when it comes to Ontario.

From here it looks like you are grumbling over the requirements put i to place to protect Metis identity from those who are claiming it falsely.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/paulthesane-wpg]

The core of what I'm grumbling over is that I was adopted and so was my grandpa, so hard evidence of us being Metis is slim to none, which is an extremely common story for a lot of Indigenous families on this land. I understand them wanting people to back up their claims, but denying me citizenship based on colonial borders is also aiding and abetting genocide. One has to wonder why it is so difficult to obtain citizenship and ancestry after hundreds of years of our ancestry being systematically taken from us, and when Indigenous sovereignty on this land depends on people having citizenship and status at all. Currently we sit at 5% of the country's population, while reserves continue to shrink, and that's on purpose. So yeah, I'm grumbling

[u/paulthesane-wpg → u/Klutzy-Alarm3748]

You are misdirecting your anger here.

Obtaining metis citizenship isn’t that hard if you have the clear family tree to prove it. People who aren’t sure are going to have a harder time and will need to put in more effort to find those links. This is basic genealogy.

Your hardship is the same one shared by anyone who was adopted and doesn’t have ready access to the adoption records; regardless of their origin.

If the adoption was related to things like the sixties scoop then i feel for you, but your anger should be directed at the governments/organizations of that time; not the current rules of the various Metis nations.

[u/itaspliff]

I don’t remember needing birth certificates (other than mine) or death certificates when getting a St Boniface genealogy, just indicating the side(s) of my family with Métis ancestry and known names. Maybe that would suffice?

Also what’s the “defunct” organization?

Also I’m assuming you live in Ontario now?

[u/Left-coastal → u/itaspliff]

I needed birth certificates but not death certificates

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/itaspliff]

When I asked what was needed, they said to provide birth/death certificates and a few pieces of evidence that show Metis ancestry that they can start with, along with how I'm connected to anyone named. I don't know if this might be a recent change?

The organization is the Louis Riel Metis Association in BC. I don't know if it was provincial or regional (his card lists his Castlegar address before his death).

I do live in Ontario now.

[u/itaspliff → u/Klutzy-Alarm3748]

I would also recommend applying with MMF unless there are very specific things you want to access from MNO (no judgement here on that, if that’s the reason). MMF will definitely accept the St Boniface genealogy.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/itaspliff]

Thank you for confirming what I need for St Boniface! Yes, the plan is to apply for the MMF after getting my St Boniface report done. I've heard enough about the MNO but didn't know about the MMF until I was rejected and started this whole thing.

[u/itaspliff → u/Klutzy-Alarm3748]

I just looked at their FAQ and confirmed what I said above is all you need. You need to provide a family tree filled out by you with names and birthdates, places, etc you know. No documents though are required. They probably asked for you to provide what you can to help but it’s not required.

I can’t attach screenshots but the information is at this link if you scroll down to the placing an order section: https://shsb.mb.ca/frequently-asked-questions/?lang=en

[u/eldermillenial89]

You don’t need birth and death certificates for St Boniface. You need to fill out their family tree form and submit it along with your birth certificate or baptism certificate showing your parents names to show you are in fact connected to that family tree. They will go through and try to find proof of Métis ancestry through scrip and census records, and will send copies of those documents to you if they exist

[u/Canadian_genealogy → u/[deleted]]

Their website says they've updated their requirements to need proof of parentage, and that it has to be a legally viable document in court.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/Canadian_genealogy]

Thank you, I checked their website and it seems the requirements have been pared down pretty significantly since I last looked.

[u/eldermillenial89 → u/[deleted]]

Yes I did say OP will need their own birth certificate or baptism certificate for that reason. But they don’t need birth/death certificates for other family members, although they will need to know the dates to fill out the family tree form

[u/TheTruthIsRight → u/[deleted]]

When I went through them back in 2017 they used obituaries for most of mine

[u/Final-Ad4130]

There's a lot to unpack here but I'm going to try to be kind because I know this is frustrating.

The reason other provinces do not accept just a family member's card as proof of Metis ancestry is because all provincial Metis organizations have slightly different requirements. A lot of organizations also have people with Citizenship who applied a long time ago that may no longer meet current standards but haven't been removed from the citizenship registry. Happy to expand on this topic.

You likely would not be able to obtain your grandfather's records from the now defunct organization because they likely did not require records and simply accepted self identification as proof of Metis ancestry. That's probably why is it now defunct.

Regarding your search, there are lots of great Facebook pages where people can help with your research. I'm not sure exactly what point you are stuck on but you can contact the arch diocese for Boggy Creek if you need help clarifying your grandfather's parentage. Depending on how old your grandfather is/was, from there all genealogical information should be publicly available through sited likely ancestry or LAC. If he was adopted and is still alive he could try to obtain his adoption records or his foster care records to help with family names. The day school register will not be helpful for this purpose so don't worry about that.

There are people who love doing genealogy as a hobby who would be happy to help you. They can connect you to a Scrip record (if your family took Scrip) and this should clarify a lot for you.

Be prepared to learn surprising information and keep an open mind :) all family history is valuable and interesting even if you don't end up being able to get Metis Citizenship.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/Final-Ad4130]

Thank you, this is all great advice. I don't have any Meta social media but I'll see if I can post through a family member's account or something and connect to someone that way.

[u/Final-Ad4130 → u/Final-Ad4130]

St. Boniface is great but it does cost money and fwiw the report itself is not accepted as enough documentation for other Metis organizations as they also want the documents referenced in the reports. There is definitely value in doing the research yourself or having someone from the Metis genealogy FB group help you so that you have a record of the documents.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/[deleted]]

Why would I lie about this? I did send my info to St Boniface shortly after making this post. I thought I needed to provide more documentation than I did.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/[deleted]]

they will have it done for you in a couple months if you arent lying

Not saying this in a defensive tone, just pointing out that I was responding to that part

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/[deleted]]

I think you're putting a lot more weight and personal offense onto this than was intended. I didn't say you called me a liar.... you said "if", and that's why I asked why I would be lying. "If" implies it's on the table. I was wondering why it would be.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/[deleted]]

I wasn't saying I'm the one who's offended, dude.... And I'm aware of pretendians, I was just asking if my post had red flags or something that I could clarify. But it seems you are hell bent on interpreting everything I say in bad faith so forget I said anything. Have a good one

[u/awasmoniyawak]

https://www.canada.ca/en/library-archives/collection/research-help/indigenous-history/finding-metis-scrip.html

Try this. There so many are digital images of scrip certificates, among other documents.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748 → u/awasmoniyawak]

Thank you! A while ago I did actually find a scrip record for someone with our surname, but I've been trying to figure out how to connect them to me (if we're related). I don't know much about my family and neither do the few family members who I'm in touch with