My Ancestor Was Songhees. Why Don't I Have Status? — Part 2

 My Ancestor Was Songhees. Why Don't I Have Status? — Part 2

If you read my last post, you may have wondered what the “second-generation cut-off” has to do with my family.

The answer is: not much.

Canada has changed its citizenship laws through Bill C-3. The old first-generation limit for citizenship by descent has been removed in certain circumstances. People born abroad in the second generation or later can now be Canadian in situations where they previously would not have been. For future generations, there is a substantial-connection requirement: the Canadian parent born abroad generally needs to have spent at least three years in Canada before the child's birth.

That's a significant change.

And if you are one of the people affected by the old citizenship rules, I understand why this matters enormously.

But here's why I am bringing up my own family history.

My great-great-grandmother was Songhees.

My family has documented this history.

Yet today, we have no legal Indian status.

So when Canada talks about correcting generations of people who were excluded from citizenship because of old government rules, I can't help asking:

What about the generations of Indigenous families whose legal recognition was affected by another set of government laws?

These are not the same laws. They are not the same legal issues. And I am not saying they are.

But they raise the same enormous question:

Who gets to decide who belongs?

For someone who isn't personally affected, this can sound like complicated government paperwork.

But it isn't paperwork to the people whose identity, family history and relationship to their ancestors are sitting inside those laws.

My great-great-grandmother didn't get to choose the legislation that would govern her descendants.

And I don't know why she made every decision she made. I wasn't there. I don't want to invent a story for her.

What I do know is that generations later, the consequences are still with my family.

So while Canada is correcting one historical citizenship problem, I think we also need to ask a much harder question:

What happens to the families who were left outside the legal definition of their own Indigenous identity?

Because changing the law for one generation doesn't automatically repair what happened to another.

And unless you are one of the families affected, you may never have a reason to think about it.

That's exactly why I'm writing about it.

Not because I have all the answers.

Because I think we need to start asking the questions.

10 Reflective questions

1. If Canada can change citizenship laws to correct injustices affecting descendants of Canadians, what does justice look like for Indigenous families whose legal status was affected by Canadian law?

2. Who gets to decide whether a person belongs — the government, a birth certificate, a status card, ancestry, or the nation of their ancestors?

3. What happens when a government-created definition of identity is passed down through generations and eventually separates descendants from legal recognition of their own heritage?

4. Can a law erase someone's legal status without erasing their family's actual history?

5. If you are a tourist visiting Canada, do you know whose territories you are actually standing on?

6. How would you feel if your great-grandmother belonged to a nation, your family could document that connection, but the government later told your descendants they no longer legally belonged?

7. Why do we find it important to correct historical injustices when they affect some Canadians, but struggle to understand the consequences when they affect Indigenous families?

8. What does reconciliation mean if generations of families still live with the consequences of laws created long before they were born?

9. When politicians talk about citizenship, immigration and belonging, whose definition of belonging are they using — and whose history is missing from the conversation?

10. If Canada is willing to reconsider laws that separated people from Canadian citizenship, are we willing to ask what other government-created divisions still need to be reconsidered?

#Songhees #IndigenousStatus #IndianAct #LostCanadians #Citizenship #IndigenousRights #Reconciliation #CanadianHistory #WhoGetsToBelong #KnowTheHistory

Lost Identity Without Paperwork? You’re Not Alone – A Message to the Disconnected and Dismissed

“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

Bill C-53 and the Debate Over 'Pretendians'

 Bill C-53 and the Debate Over 'Pretendians'

I asked AI about Bill C-53, and here’s what it said:

Bill C-53, officially titled the Recognition of Certain Métis Governments in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan and Métis Self-Government Act, was introduced in Canada to recognize certain Métis governments and provide a framework for self-governance. The goal was to affirm the Métis Nation’s right to self-determination, particularly in areas such as citizenship, elections, and social services.

However, concerns quickly arose regarding individuals falsely claiming Indigenous identity—often referred to as "pretendians"—who might exploit the bill to access resources meant for Indigenous communities. Organizations like the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI) warned that fraudulent claims could undermine Indigenous rights and funding allocations.

Due to these concerns and a court ruling invalidating parts of the bill, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree announced in December 2024 that Bill C-53 would be paused. This decision followed the withdrawal of support from Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, further complicating its progress.

The term "pretendian" has gained traction in discussions about Indigenous identity fraud, highlighting the need for stricter verification measures to protect Indigenous communities from exploitation. But Indigenous identity is incredibly complex, and policies like Bill C-53 raise deeper questions about who has the right to claim that identity and how it should be verified.

Personal Reflection:

The Métis identity debate is super complicated. You shouldn't be profiting from ceremony, but what happens when identity is contested at the government level?

For example, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) lists me as French because my great-grandparents claimed that on the 1921 census. But if you go back to the 1881 census, my family was listed as Portuguese and Indian. I’ve traced my lineage back over four generations, and my DNA shows 9% Indigenous ancestry—but that doesn’t count for official recognition. If a community doesn’t claim you, then what?

I took a Truth & Reconciliation Carving course—supposedly, I’ve done "the work." But I don’t advertise myself as Métis because it’s SO CONTROVERSIAL. Instead, I say I have Indigenous ancestry mixed with Portuguese, Swedish, Kalapuya, Iroquois, French, Sooke, Songhees, Bohemian—Canadian.

In BC, during the 1800s, people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry were called "Half Breeds." But in Red River and Saskatchewan, Métis identity is distinct—you have to have Cree heritage, and for many, it's almost like a religion.

I don’t trust anyone to define my identity for me. You have to find yourself, dig deep into your roots—and it’s hard because you will uncover things you might not want to know.

Be careful out there. Trust no one but yourself. 🤔😢