'How would you conceive of Mtis identity?': Experts doubt population with historic Mtis ties in census

Megan Claud only found out about herMtis roots a few years ago.

"My great-grandma, she hid it, likecompletely, from everyone,up until she was on her deathbed and started speaking Cree," Claud said.

The 20-year-old Edmonton woman, who registeredwith theMtis Nation of Alberta and later worked for the organization, said that she's noticedmore and more people are curious about their Indigenous heritage.

"There's less of a stigma" compared to when her great-grandma was young, she said."I think people are embracing it."

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More people self-identify as Mtis

The results of the 2016 national census released this weekcorroborate Claud's hypothesis.

Nearly 1.7 million people self-identified as Indigenous, up 42.5 per cent from a decade ago.

Among First Nations, Mtis and Inuit communities, Mtisexperienced the largest increase. More than 587,000 people checked that box on the census, a jump of51.2 per cent over the past 10 years.

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In Alberta alone, there are 114,370 people who self-identify as Mtis, according to the census data.

AudreyPoitras, the president of theMtisNation of Alberta, saidthat more attention to Indigenous rights and talk of reconciliationencouragespeople to take pride in their Indigenous heritage.

"They are finally seeing some recognition for who they are as people," she said.

Poitrassaid she hasnoticed an uptick in people wanting to register with the organization after precedent-setting decisions aboutMtisrights.

DefiningMtis

There iscontroversy over who qualifies asMtis and who doesn't.

University of Alberta professor Chris Andersen, dean of the faculty of Native studies, said he's not surprised by the census findings pertaining to theMtispopulationsinceMtisis seen as synonymous with being of First Nations ancestry on one side and European ancestry on the other.

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Andersen said thatbeingMtisis about more than just that. It's about having ties tothe historicMtisNation.

"If that is the case, then the question that needs to be asked is, 'Why do people self-identify asMtiswhen they don't haveMtisparents or grandparents?' " Andersen said.

"How would you conceive ofMtisidentity if you removed the idea thatmixed-nessmixed ancestry, or mixed blood, or what have youwas an essential feature of it?"

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Andersen said it comes down to ancestral tiesto thebuffalo-hunting people and the fur-trading economy of the historicMtisNation of the 1800s.

There is also atraditional territorial associationwithRed River, Man. While not allMtispeople are from there, it's where Louis Riel took on a leadership role in fighting for the already-establishedMtis settlements after Confederation.

Analyzingancestry

Up until 2006, Poitras said that people could register with theMtisNation as long as someone vouched for them.

Now, a genealogist works with them to confirm the location of their historicMtisNation, with a territorial centre of sorts inRed River, Man.

Since 2006, theMtisNationhas registered approximately 36,000 people. In partnership with the University of Alberta, the organization studiesthe population in the province.

Their research suggests there are about 27,000 more Mtiswho have not registered, bringing the total number ofMtisin Alberta to around 63,000.

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Poitras said that not everyone interested in registering has ancestral ties to the historicMtisNation.

"Sometimes there's people who come through and say, 'I believe I am Metis.' And that's the first stepidentifying yourself if you believe you are Metis," Poitras said, adding that theMtisNation can't always find a link.

"Those people then generally realize because they've had our genealogist work with themthey realize who they really are and they're proud of their ancestry, whether it's Metis or not."

roberta.bell@cbc.ca

@roberta__bell