Why is “who I am” important now?










Métis with a capital “M”

I identify as Métis from Québec or Kébec*. Not métis. Here’s why:

The same reason why I go back and correct Indigenous, Aboriginal, Inuit, First Nations, Atikamekw, Abenaki, etc…

The same reason why we write Canada, Quebec, Canadian, Peter, Marie…

Who I am is not an adjective, it is a Proper Noun – there’s nothing common about me!

Adjective: I am the product of métissage. Proper noun: I am Métis.

*Algonquian ”Where the river narrows”

Who am I? (part deux)






Who am I?

Well, it depends on who you ask. It’s really complicated, and I’m working my way through that question with this blog. Let’s start with “Where am I from” instead.

I was born in Québec. My mother was an “Air Force Brat”. who grew up in pretty much every AF base throughout Canada. Her parents, my grandmother and grandfather, were born respectively in Grey County, Ontario and Lanaudière, Québec. They met and married while both serving in the RCAF during WWII.

My dad was born in Lanaudière and we trace his part of family back to the first French colonialists to settle in the Mauricie region of la Nouvelle-France.

Time for a map. It’s important. 


Mauricie and Lanaudière are narrow, long stretched Northward territories administrative regions.. For a long time, the area that would later become known as Trois-Rivières was frequented by Algonquins and Abenakis, who used it as a summer stopping place. The pin is dropped at Odanak, the only First Nation reserve West of Trois-Rivières and East of Kahnawà:ke. The “lighter” shade of green are cultivated lands. The “darker” shade are forests. This is where my paternal ancestors lived. Notice at the top the “Réserve faunique” and the “Parc national”. Those were our harvesting grounds.