Another instance of contested, if not appropriated, affiliation.
The Guardian and CBC report controversy over claims by University of Saskatchewan academic Carrie Bourassa of Indigenous ancestry. Bourassa has described herself as having Métis, Anishinaabe and Tlingit heritage and on occasion very publicly identified herself as “Morning Star Bear” (“I’m Bear Clan. I’m Anishinaabe Métis from Treaty Four Territory”).
CBC television alleged that Bourassa was entirely of European descent, with a study of genealogical and other records indicating that her ancestors were of Russian, Polish and Czechoslovakian descent. As with much disagreement about affiliation, colleagues had expressed disquiet about her account of her ancestry and some appear to have undertaken genealogical searches (confirmed and deepened by CBC).
Bourassa states that she had been adopted as Métis by a friend of her grandfather and had subsequently been adopted into Tlingit and other communities. CBC was accused of running a “smear campaign", with Bourassa stating she was “shocked and dismayed at the recent attack on my identity”. She indicated that she identified as Métis and that elders who supported her did not rely on “blood quantums” to assess Indigenous identity.
CBC quotes a University of Toronto academic of Métis heritage as saying “It makes you feel a bit sick [t]o have an impostor who is speaking on behalf of Métis and Indigenous people to the country about literally what it means to be Métis … that’s very disturbing and upsetting and harmful.”
Another colleague states
early on in Bourassa’s career, she only identified as Métis. But more recently, Tait said, Bourassa began claiming to also be Anishinaabe and Tlingit. Tait said she also began dressing in more stereotypically Indigenous ways, saying the TEDx Talk was a perfect example.
“Everybody cheers and claps, and it’s beautiful,” said Tait. “It is the performance that we all want from Indigenous people — this performance of being the stoic, spiritual, culturally attached person [with] which we can identify because we’ve seen them in Disney movies.”
Authority aside, Bourassa may have benefited from scholarships as a Métis student.
In my forthcoming monographs on identity I note that 'identity states' rely on registers and tags. CBC states
On her Facebook page, Bourassa says she’s a member of First Indigenous Riel Métis Local #33 (FIRM 33).
Wendy Gervais, the elected representative for the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN-S) in the Regina region where FIRM 33 is located, says that organization is not connected to the Métis Nation. “They are not a recognized, legal local,” said Gervais. “They’re not part of our governing body.”
Gervais said in Saskatchewan, proving you are a Métis person is relatively simple — you just show you are on the provincial citizenship registry.
“If someone were questioning who I am, here’s my citizenship card, here’s my genealogy. This is who I am,” said Gervais. “Any person carrying a Métis citizenship card has produced their documentation to prove who they are.”
In fact, during a 2012 address to a House of Commons committee examining Métis identity, Bourassa acknowledged she didn’t qualify for the registry.
A critic comments that“I can have my local membership, but I know I am not eligible for that provincial registry,” Bourassa said.
sidelining genealogical proof is alarming at a time when Indigenous people are fighting for their rights and their land.
“That’s opening the doors to every Tom, Dick and Harry to claim Indigeneity,” she said. “Then suddenly out of the woodwork, everybody’s Indigenous because they feel like it.”
