Firestorm over Indigenous Identity Claim

[Glacier]

At what percentage are you good enough to claim to be indigenous or Metis? Having two native ancestors from the 1600s is apparently not enough, so where should the line be drawn?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/tric ... -1.5848094

[edmskeptic]

why can't we all be first nations and get along!

[liisgo]

This one is easy. Any one that wants the benefits or sees any advantage in making the claim and having it acknowledged will do it. That means alot will want it expanded to accommodate themselves. If there were no advantage, no gain, no benefits then no one would be requesting the identity.
Who wouldn't?

[Brass Monkey]

This one is easy. Any one that wants the benefits or sees any advantage in making the claim and having it acknowledged will do it. That means alot will want it expanded to accommodate themselves. If there were no advantage, no gain, no benefits then no one would be requesting the identity.
Who wouldn't?

Indigenous heritage is romanticized, that’s why you’ll never be too far away from someone who wants to tell you they are 1/8 Cherokee.

[cyruslosco66]

At what percentage are you good enough to claim to be indigenous or Metis? Having two native ancestors from the 1600s is apparently not enough, so where should the line be drawn?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/tric ... -1.5848094

she didnt live the life thats the problem , she also sought advice from the ppl she claimed to be from , and she accepts their advice . she isnt a victim .

[edmskeptic]

Life on a reservation can be a good thing or bad thing. (nevermind the tax free status)
Whether a reservation is a utopia or dystopia depends on its governance.

There are nations that have excellent governance, and these are the ones you see succeeding. Lower rates of drug abuse and alcoholism than the non-indegenous population.
These nations are so successful that they employ non-indegenous people as well.

And then there are the poorly governed nations that always seem to be championed in the news. These first nations are run like feudal oligarchies.

The chief takes his money from the feds, buys a new truck and house every other year. The deputy gets the 2 year old house, and so on down the line until the lowest ranking member od the tribe gets the leftovers.

As long as you have the right lineage within the tribe, they'll use the money for whatever you want. A person can be as dumb as bricks but with the right last name ****feather or eagle**** the tribe will pay for university and even law school.

Have the wrong last name like oldknife or rustygun, and no matter how brilliant you are, the tribe won't even send you to technical school. I'm sure there's been more than 1 first nations leonardo Davinci or Michaelangelo who's been thrown to the wayside by tribal nepotism. And really, if you have a brilliant mind, but your tribal heirarchy tells you that you're worthless, then sometimes the only way a genius mind can handle it is by dumbing itself down with alcohol or drugs.

[Staredintoabyss]

As per usual I imagine it is a floating standard that is entirely dictated based on personal prejudices and biases.

Just as how European descended people are all externally labelled as "White" despite not recognizing that identity and coming from very disparate and divergent cultures and backgrounds that label allows people to ignore the very nuances they would in other cases demand recognition of. Such as in this case where those nuances are what is having hairs split over it.

Fundamentally it is about narrative, power, and control.

[the truth]

why can't we all be first nations and get along!

that would be awesome ...........

[BC Landlord]

why can't we all be first nations and get along!

The nowadays so-called "first nations" are probably some 10th or a 15th nation themselves in these lands. Could be 25th, .. only God knows the exact number.

[Babba_not_Gump]

A number of years ago the company i worked for was doing a federal government required survey as to how many people worked there who were part or whole native Indian.
I know of two guys in the company who were 1/4 indian, and that counted towards the "quota".
Not sure if they allowed a lesser number or not, 1/8, 1/16? What's acceptable?

On the topic of identifying as something you are not, I thought that was totally acceptable nowadays.
Jonathan/Jessica Yaniv was really popular last year. It appears he/she/it is still active.

[JayByrd]

so where should the line be drawn?

The line should be drawn wherever indigenous people say it should be drawn. No one else gets a vote.

Sort of like how people decide who they consider "family". Is your cousin's ex-wife part of the family? That's up to you, I don't get to decide.

This won't stop a bunch of (presumably) white folk unironically debating the issue though.

[ifwisheswerehorses]

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/wh ... portunists

[Brass Monkey]

And then there are the poorly governed nations that always seem to be championed in the news. These first nations are run like feudal oligarchies

Spoken like someone who has spent very little time on Indian reserves. For many bands the limiting factor is not a greedy Chief but the funding itself. Here is a link to a story about an Indian band who has to deny funding for 30 students because of lack of funding from the federal government.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/debu ... -1.3414183

The chief takes his money from the feds, buys a new truck and house every other year. The deputy gets the 2 year old house, and so on down the line until the lowest ranking member od the tribe gets the leftovers.

What Indian band is doing this?

As long as you have the right lineage within the tribe, they'll use the money for whatever you want. A person can be as dumb as bricks but with the right last name ****feather or eagle**** the tribe will pay for university and even law school.

That's right, the Bigeagle family from WFN get free trucks, houses, vacations, tattoos etc etc etc. In fact, just the other day I was driving by and saw the Chief dropping off a sack of $100 bills on their doorstep. Later that day I saw the Chief go and egg the Smith household because they didn't sound native enough.

Have the wrong last name like oldknife or rustygun, and no matter how brilliant you are, the tribe won't even send you to technical school. I'm sure there's been more than 1 first nations leonardo Davinci or Michaelangelo who's been thrown to the wayside by tribal nepotism. And really, if you have a brilliant mind, but your tribal heirarchy tells you that you're worthless, then sometimes the only way a genius mind can handle it is by dumbing itself down with alcohol or drugs.

The majority of brilliant minds are being stamped out by the poverty that has ruled over First Nations for a few centuries now. WFN boosted our rates of high school graduation by providing the parents with the necessary services and facilities to raise good children, not because we banished the mean people.

[BC Landlord]

The best thing that could ever happen to "First Nations" would be the abolition of reserve system and the Indian Act.

[techrtr]

Seems pretty petty to have a hissy fit when someone claims to be Metis but can't prove it. There are probably huge numbers of people in this country who are Metis but don't care one way or the other and don't bother to check into it. Why do people feel compelled to "own" their heritage like it's a precious jewel? It's an accident of history, not something to be jealously guarded against suspected interlopers.

At any rate, it's a dumb series.