When it comes to Metis Status cards, culture, and the news in Canada that the Metis are now considered "Indians" as described in the Indian Act, there is alot of misconception to be cleared up.
What the news means, is that Metis will finally be given the same chance to consult and make agreement with regard to rights and environmental issues as other aboriginals have.
Metis are people who descend from mixed marriages during the fur trade. The culture that developed over generations is not the same as First Nations nor Inuit. Metis even have their own language, Michif. To lump them with First Nations or Inuit would be like asking someone who is Philippino to suddenly become Chinese. While their origins are similar, their cultures are different.
Because of shame and fear of such things as residential school, racism, and having your possessions taken away, two-thirds of all Metis families fled the west, and hid their identity for generations, leaving the Metis of today with a fragmented idea of who they are, even if they practice their Metis culture. Many Metis are so dissociated from their own identity, that some members of their family can't even recognize they are visibly native when they look into the mirror in the morning.
Not all Metis people look native though. Because genetics are unpredictable, you cannot tell just by looking at someone whether they have Native ancestors or not. Many people don't even know they do, because their families hid it so well. Of the ones that do know, and are culturally Metis, most will not admit it publicly, and that is so sad, because being Metis means having knowlege and traditional wisdom about how to save the environment. Having the attitude of conservancy is a Metis attitude. Having knowlege of how to survive in the wilderness is something many culturally Metis people still know about, because they know which plants to eat, how to hunt without tools, and so many other survival skills.
They are a resourceful bunch, and they are fun at parties too, even though they still have to pay taxes like everyone else, which should make them real downers to hang around with, but ironically it hasn't crushed their spirit to have fun. Their traditions include lots of music, fiddle, squaredancing, singing family songs, and telling stories. You can learn more about their culture at Communities of the Voyageur Metis. And if you are Metis, you can apply for a Metis Status Card too.
Many people who are "secretly Metis" are very educated, hard-working people who have contributed greatly to their communities. Their Metis ancestors helped build the first economy of this continent, that of the fur trade.
The Native American great grandmothers of the fur trade did most of the hard work -- preparing food, setting up camp, making warm and waterproof clothing and footwear, netting snowshoes, feeding everyone (including sled-dogs), carrying packs, and even paddling the canoe. They also were interpreters, which gave access to their extensive kinship ties that lead to more furs and more trade. And they were also guide and healer, with their knowlege of how to survive in the forests of the early Americas, and their knowlege of plants as medicine. If you read any journal of a fur trade clerk, you will read how these women saved the European men from starvation. Literally.
Why anyone would not feel proud of this legacy is a mystery. Why anyone would think that claiming Metis Status based on these heroic great grandmothers would change anyone's perspective of them is just what it is -- continual fear based on generations of racism. But Native Americans always had a right to exist. Their knowlege and wisdom is as important as the cultural wisdom of other nations. Funny how we are all coming to know that, now that the earth is in danger.
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Metis Status,
Metis culture or Metis Identity.
