Ancestry

[Guest guest]

Raven -

You are very fortunate to know so much about your heritage and to

have a people with whom to share it. My great grandmother was

Cherokee but I'd be laughed at if I tried to go hang around the

Cherokee people. Thank you for the information and also for the well

wishes.

Jill

>

> Métis are 50% Aboriginal and 50% other or 100% Métis (where both

> parents are Métis). My Aboriginal ancestry has been traced back to

> the early 1600s and because of who they were, I do well to honour

> their traditions and culture and spiritual beliefs. They did not

> abandon their lands; their lands were stolen from them.

>

> The Métis are a people unto themselves and a great debt of

gratitude

> to Louis Riel and the rebellion he led in the late 1880s. It's

only

> been in recent history that they have removed his name as a traitor

> to Canada and recognized his contributions to his people.

>

> I know my non-Aboriginal ancestry and I know it well. There are no

> ties for them to this country other than to have immigrated here at

> the turn of the last century. For reasons of their own (many of

> which I understand), they abandoned their lands out of choice.

>

> There is no mistaking what my ancestry is, even with the lighter

> skin toning genes present (which, btw, resulted in freckles and is

> therefore a great source of laughter to my Aboriginal buddies).

>

> And while there has been interest in my other ancestors over the

> years, I do not resonate with their traditions and cultures and

> spiritual beliefs.

>

> I am sorry to hear your medication has caused you difficulties and

I

> hope things improve soon for you.

>

> Raven

>

>