4 federal candidates accused of Indigenous identity appropriation by Halifax academic

A Halifax academic isquestioningthe claims of Indigenous identityby several federal election candidates.

Darryl Leroux, an associate professor ofsocial justice and communities studiesat Saint Mary's University, says at least four federal candidates from the Liberal, Conservative and Green parties have made dubious claims of Indigenous identity.

Leroux, who recently published a bookcalled Distorted Descent:White Claims to Indigenous Identity, said all four claims seem to cling to the largely discredited idea that having one Indigenous ancestor somewhere in the past can bestow someone with an Indigenous identity.

"This idea that all you need is a long-ago blood connection there is a consensus in Indigenous studies, as theorized and thought through by Indigenous scholars, that this is not acceptable," said Leroux.

"It actually is an attack against Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty."

Leroux singled outMarc Serr, anincumbent MP and candidate for the Liberal Party in the Nickel Belt riding in Ontario;George Canyon, a Conservativecandidate forCentral Nova in Nova Scotia; and Green Party candidates Amanda Kistindey, running in the Ontario riding of Don Valley West, and Jocelyn Rioux, who is running in the Quebec riding of Rimouski-Neigette-Tmiscouata-Les Basques.

Serr, who wasco-chair of the Liberal Indigenous caucus as an MP, recently deleted a section on his online candidate biography stating he was a "citizen of the Mattawa/North Bay Algonquin First Nation and Mtis of Ontario." It remains in his biography on the web page for the LiberalIndigenous caucus.

The Mattawa/North BayAlgonquin First Nation is not an Indian Act band or a self-governing First Nation with a modern treaty. It is an entity created as part of the controversial Algonquins of Ontario land claim that has been criticized by Algonquin First Nations in Quebec who question its legitimacy.

Serr is on a voters' list drafted in 2015 to determine who could vote for the ratification of an agreement-in-principle. According to the document, his root ancestor is Marie Mitewamewkwe.

Also known as Marie Miteouamigoukoue and Marie Miteouamegoukwe, Mitewamewkwe is believed to be an Algonquin woman born circa 1631, according to Leroux's book. She died in Trois-Rivires, Que., on Jan. 8, 1699.

"[Mitewamewkwe]is likely the second-most well-known Indigenous ancestorin French-descendant genealogical circles today," wrote Leroux in his book.

She is cited as a root ancestorfor people claiming to beMtisin Quebec, Algonquin in Ontario and Abenaki in New Hampshire, he wrote.

Serr told CBC News that he has Algonquin ancestry through four lines on his father's side and and at least one on his mother's side, but admits only one link is documented and the rest are part of family lore.

"The Catholic Church literally erased their past in the late 1850s and this is well documented," said Serr. "The Catholic Church would take kids from the reserves and so my two great-great-grandmothers were taken away."

Serr saidhis paternal great-great-grandmother was a woman named Marie Metamakin(Serr's spelling) who was a Weskarini Algonquin born in Trois Rivires, Que.

"Four generations, my Algonquin ancestry is," he said. "That we could prove."

Serr said he and his family have always felt Indigenous at their core.

"Growing up we considered ourselves more on the Mtis side my grandfather's brothers and sisters lived off the land and clearly if you look at pictures, you see a lot of resemblance to my great-great-grandmother," said Serr.

"All my ancestry on all sides lived very poor, lived off the land."

Serr said the documented connection runs through his father,Gaetan Serr, his father's mother, Jeanne Aubin, and her mother, Marie Victoire Octavi Trudel. Serr said Trudel's mother was Marie Metamakin.

CBC News took Serr's lineage to independent Montreal-based genealogical researcher Dominique Ritchot. Ritchot followed the line and found that Trudel's mother was a woman namedJosaphine Barette, whose parents were VitalBarette and Marcelline Lareau, who were married on Feb. 9, 1858, in Napierville, Que.

CBC News approached Serr with Ritchot's findings last week. He responded Tuesday with a short statement.

"I am proud of my heritage as a citizen of the Algonquin First Nation in Mattawa-North Bay," the statement said.

The Liberal Party deferred questions to Serr.

The Acadian-Mtiscontroversy

In a now-deleted section of Amanda Kistindey's profile on the Green Party's website, she identified as an Acadian-Mtis with "strong ancestral heritage" which has shaped her advocacy.

Lerouxsaid her claim as Acadian-Mtis also likely hinges on a more thanthree-century-old ancestor.Acadian-Mtis claims first surfaced in 1999 and in a 2001 court case, he said.

"It's an identity appropriation this is very insidious because it's much harder to call out," he said. "It's wrong because those same individuals are using this anti-colonial or de-colonial language to assert these identities."

In an email to CBC News,Kistindeysaid that while she's never grown up on reserve or "even really been immersed in the culture," she is proud of her ancestral heritage.

While Kistindey did not respond to followup questions, the Green Party said in a statementit "does not verify the background of our candidates who self-identify as Indigenous."

The statement said the party believes individual Indigenous nations and communities should have the authority to decide who is Indigenous, "not Ottawa."

'An attack on sovereignty'

According to Leroux, one of the most dangerous manifestations of what he terms "identity appropriation"arises when groups form and claim some type of Indigenous ancestry in an effort to stop real Indigenous communities from asserting their rights.

"A number of white people used ancestors in the past to stop a territorial claim," said Leroux. "To me, it's always an attack on sovereignty."

Leroux devotesa chapter in his book toQuebec's Mtis Nation of the Rising Sun. According to Leroux, it's the largest self-identifyingMtis organization in the province, counting between 16,000 and 20,000 people as members.

Leroux writes in his book that the Rising Sun group sprouted from opposition in 2006 to an agreement between the Mi'kmaq community of Gesgapegiag and the Quebec government over territorial hunting and fishing rights in the Gasp region.

The group has also looked to the Quebec courts forrecognition as a constitutional rights-bearing Mtiscommunity to hunt and fish. In August, the Supreme Court of Canada denied their case's application to leave for appeal.

Green Party candidate Jocelyn Rioux says on his candidate profile that he is the "Aboriginal Chief for the Environment" for the Rising Sun band council.

Rioux told CBC News via email that on his mother's side of the family, his ancestors are Huron-Wendat from Wendake, Que.

"I asked for a more accurate genealogy with the birth and marriage certificates. In my family, I've never asked myself whether I'm Indigenous, any more than African, Chinese or whatever," he said.

When asked why he identifies as Mtis rather than Huron-Wendat, he said it's because his family is still searching for his father's ancestry and that his mother's lineage isn't recognized under the Indian Act.

"It's a form of racism," said Rioux. "But our nation did detailed genealogy studies and acknowledged many of our members could be recognized as First Nations."

As for Leroux's criticism, Rioux copied and pasted a section of the Mtis Nation of the Rising Sun's website on their history that states the presence of Mtis in the Gaspsie dates back to 1760.

"I remember when I was young being tormented by other children for being Indigenous, and now it's adults who deny our identity. I imagine that the genocide continues to work in silence and true reconciliation is not here," he said.

Eastern Mtis or Mi'kmaq?

In an interview with CBC Nova Scotia earlier this month,Conservative candidate George Canyonsaid heidentified as a member of the Eastern Woodlands Mtis Nation.

When CBC Indigenous contacted the Conservative Party about Canyon's Indigenous identity, it sent a statement that said Canyon was "proud of his Mi'kmaq heritage, but is not status."

Leroux said the Eastern Woodlands Mtis Nation is "perhaps the most fraudulent Acadian-Mtis organization" and thatCanyon is falsely claiming to be Indigenous.

Neither the Eastern Woodlands Mtis Nation northe Mtis Nation of the Rising Sun is recognized by the Mtis National Council (MNC).

Last year, the MNC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Chiefs to educate the public about the "legitimate Mtis Nation and Mi'kmaq issues."

Will Goodon, housing minister for Manitoba Mtis Federation, said unless a candidate has roots to the Mtis Nation in Western Canada, they are not Mtis.

"There is only one Mtis Nation," he said. "It's absolutely clear, cutand dry. The Acadian people are Acadian people and they're not Mtis. And if your relations are Mi'kmaq, why don't you want to be Mi'kmaq?"

It'sa growing problem that people think having a mixture of Indigenous and non-Indigenous ancestry makes a person Mtis, he said.

"It's not a catch-all phrase for people who have some Indigenous ancestry going back five, 10, 12 generations," said Goodon. "They can be who they are, but they're not us."