“Lost Identity Without Paperwork? You’re Not Alone – A Message to the Disconnected and Dismissed
By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita
I submitted everything I could to Indigenous Services Canada — baptism certificate, family history, names passed down. But no birth certificate claiming “Songhees,” no official death record either.
And their answer?
“You’re French.”
🥴😢
That’s how it is for so many of us.
We come from mixed roots, deep ties, and living stories — but if it’s not on colonial paper, they act like we don’t exist.
Let’s be honest: back then, paperwork didn’t exist.
Births happened at home, not in hospitals. People didn’t get official IDs. They were known by their family, their clan, their community. There was no “Métis” checkbox — that came later. Before that, we were called “half-breeds” or “mixed” or worse — labels made by colonizers to control.
And now, in 2025, they want us to digitize our bloodlines, prove our identities with forms and barcodes, while the systems they built erase the reality we lived.
Remember the treaties? Misunderstood, ignored, broken — not because our ancestors didn’t try, but because the values weren’t aligned. We spoke of respect, land, and future generations. They saw resources, profit, power.
Now we’re supposed to trust the same system that ignored Wampum belts and sacred agreements… to define who we are?
How many people are sitting alone right now, trying to explain their family story to a bureaucrat or fill out a form, only to be told:
“Sorry, you don’t qualify.”
If that’s you — I see you.
You are not lost. You are not invisible. You are not wrong.
You’re part of a bigger story. One where truth doesn’t need paper. One where our existence, our bloodlines, our roots — live beyond documents.
🪶 Keep telling your story.
🪶 Honour your truth.
🪶 And know: you are not alone.
Feel free to share your story below or just know someone out here understands.
– Tina Winterlik / Zipolita
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