N.W.T. Mtis Nation membership drive underway, members will have say in final land claim

A membership drive for the Northwest TerritoriesMtisNation is underway. It started last week in Yellowknife.

To become a member, applicants must haveaMtis, Cree,Slaveyor Chipewyan ancestor who lived in the South Slave region on or beforeDec. 31, 1921.

Singer-songwriter John Tees is one of 90 people from Yellowknife applying to become a member of theN.W.T.MtisNation.

Tees is also a former member of the North Slave Mtis Alliance. After doing some of his own research he found the names Delorme and Savard in his family tree.

• NWTMtisNation seeks funding to complete membership list

"It's a good thing this Northwest TerritoriesMtis[organization]come along ...maybe there's a place for us there," Tees said.

JasonLepineis the registries manager. He said a genealogist as well asrecords from the Hudson's Bay Company, Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith and Census are helping his team screen through the applications.

The N.W.T.MtisNation is involved in a long-standing land claim process withfederal and territorialgovernments.

"There's never been a Mtis land claim in Canada. This will be the first of it's kind, and that in itself is the importance of the entire process," Lepine said Friday.

"Apart from that, our requirements are far more strict than the Mtis National Council or any other Mtis association across the country."

• NWTMtisNation has spent $30M and counting negotiating its land claim

TheN.W.T.MtisNationstarting enrolling members back in 1996. Lepineestimates there are about 3,000 already enrolled in the membership, and expects the membership list could grow to 5,000.

Tees said he looks forward to getting an N.W.T.Mtisstatus card, which would allow him to vote on the eventual land claim.

The next intake of applications will be in Hay River fromFeb.2-4, 2018.