What is Indian Status?

In 1867 Canada created the Indian status card. This card gave benefits to Indigenous people such as tax exemptions, health care and dentistry. They could also use this new status card to travel as a piece of ID. To get this status you have to been at least a 1/4 Indigenous, there are some problems with this because one could argue that Indigenity is not about the blood but more about knowledge, culture and community. 

Buffy Saint-Marie

Buffy Saint-Marie was known as a super famous Indigenous singer, she used her fame as a way to draw light to the problems of racism towards indigenous people. Near the end of her career CBC outed her for pretending to be Indigenous through her whole career. She took many opportunities that were created for real Indigenous people, but she also raised a lot of awareness towards Indigeneous racism and was a huge voice for Indigenous people. A huge proeblm with having a Buffy Saint-Marie being such a huge voice for Indigenous people is that she doesn’t have the knowledge and experiences of an Indigenous person so she could have spread lots of harmful misinformation even if she had good intentions.

https://youtu.be/eMsqCWNCUc4?si=eZeaAnCsw1EsepiV 

I created a mind map to connect all my ideas about the Fifth Estate episode- Investigating Buffy Saint-Maries claims to Indigenous ancestry. I wrote down the general facts about the episode plus my questions, connections and opinions.

 

Our learning throughout this project 

This project was all about learning and building connections through your knowledge while understanding how to talk about these topics with understanding and respect. We began by learning about the Sixties Scoop, Indian status and pretendians. We then connected this knowledge through the CNC episode exposing Buffy Saint Marie as being a pretendian. Throughout our learning we had lots of opportunities for class conversation, preparing us for the final talking circle.

Key Definitions  

Pretendian– A person pretending to be Indigenous to gain the benefits that were specifically created to help Indigenous people. 

Sixties Scoop– A period of time around the 60’s where many Indigenous kids were taken “scooped” away from their families and put into the child welfare system. 

Status Card– The status card was a government issued ID that giving Indigenous people a set of benefits such as some tax exemptions, dental care and health care.  

Talking Circle 

The final piece of this project was a class talking circle where we talked about our opinions, connections, ideas and new knowledge about this project. We had some questions to help guide us along but the conversation was able to grow into new topics and debates where we bounced of each others ideas. At the beginning and end of the talking circle we passed around a talking feather that when held it was your turn to speak. I enjoyed having this talking feather because it allowed me to hear everyone’s opinions and ideas. 

The big topics that we talked about were

• What does “status” mean in Canada, and how does it shape identity and access to rights and resources?
• Why do you think some people falsely claim Indigenous identity? What are the consequences of this?
• How has your understanding of Indigeneity, identity, and authenticity evolved through this study?
• What is the difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation? Where do we draw the line?
• How do media and institutions (universities, arts organizations, government) contribute to the problem of false claims to Indigeneity?
• What responsibility do we have when discussing these issues outside of class?

My ideas and answers 

What does “status” mean in Canada, and how does it shape identity and access to rights and resources?

What status means

• Status is a classification under the Indian Act that identifies whether a person is recognized as a Status Indian. 
• It’s the legal identification of how they are officially recognized 
• It has imposed external criteria on who is considered Indigenous 

Shapes identity and rights/resources 

• Some status’s give you benefits such as hunting rights  
• Reserves (land set aside for Indigenous use) 
• Health Benefits 
• Post-Secondary Education Support 
• Certain tax exemptions on goods and income 

Why do you think some people falsely claim Indigenous identity? What are the consequences of this?

Why?

• Access to resources and opportunities (scholarship grants and employment opportunities reserved for Indigenous people) 
• Can offer a sense of belonging or validation to people (being part of a community) 
• People falsely believing their are part of Indigenous ancestry 

Harms

• Resources reserved for Indigenous people are taken away by Non-Indigenous people 
• Reinforces barriers for actual Indigeous people who face disadvantages in society 
• Loss of trust between Indigenous communities and the government, need for higher security around status etc. 
• Pressure for Indigenous people to prove their identity 
• Misrepresentation of Indigenous cultures and history 

How has your understanding of Indigeneity, identity, and authenticity evolved through this study?

• Never knew about pretendians, brought me awareness to this problem 
• Indigeneity is not only based of blood by also knowledge and understanding of the culture 
• There’s no applicable solution to the pretendians, having higher security could be harmful to Indigeous people claiming Indigegnity because they shouldn’t need to prove their ancestry and could harm Indigenous opportunities by limiting the amount of people who can claim Indigenity but lower security will allow for more pretendians which could also be harmful to Indigenous communities. 

What is the difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation? Where do we draw the line?

Cultural Appreciation 

• When someone respectfully engages with another culture 
• Acknowledging another cultures significance and history 
• Learning, honoring, supporting 
• Educating yourself about another culture 
• Getting permission or acknowledgment of another cultures importance 
• Supporting the community that this culture comes from 

Cultural Appropriation 

• Aspects of another culture ar used, taken and profited from 
• Done without understanding, respect or permission 
• Ignoring cultural significance of a symbol or attire 
• Gaining benefits or profiting of a minorities culture 
• Misrepresentation, stereotyping, oversimplifying 

Draw the Line

• It depends a lot of the intent, context and impact of an action 
• Using sacred attire or symbols with understanding their significance 
• Profiting or exploiting another culture 
• Using parts of other culture without understanding their significance 
• Taking elements of another culture and discrepting their meaning 

How do media and institutions (universities, arts organizations, government) contribute to the problem of false claims to Indigeneity?

• Many instutions rely on self-identification without needing verification 
• These opportunities from institutions can be taken away be Non-Indigenous people 
• Gives a motivation to pretend to be Indigenous (if there were no benefits it wouldn’t happen) 
• Media can elevate high-profile indigenous figures without properly checking their background (ex. Buffy Sainte-Marie) 
• Media can promote sterotypes 
• Many instutions rely on colonial frameworks to determine Indigeniety (allows for false claims with gaps in the system)

What responsibility do we have when discussing these issues outside of class?

• Remembering that we aren’t Indigenous and no matter how much we research the topic we will never fully understand the experiences because we’ve never been in their shoes. 
• We need to remember sensitivity when talking about these difficult topics and remember to be respectful 

My own questions?

Where is the line between cultural appreciation and appropriation in media, fashion, and art?

How can individuals make sure they engage with Indigenous cultures respectfully?

How can companies have verification processes for Indigenous identity without reinforcing outdated definitions of Indigeneity?

What role do Indigenous communities play in reclaiming their own identities today?

Rose, Bud, Thorn 

🌹Rose– I liked how engaging this project was, I was invested throughout and found the content we were learning to be very interesting. 

🌱Bud– I think I could have grown in this project by speaking more during the talking circle because I felt that I had many good opions to add but I didn’t have the confidence to speak them out into the circle. 

🌵Thorn– The part of this project that I would change is how the talking circle was set up to allow everyone to have a chance to speak. The talking feather did help this problem but I felt that it still was a struggle for lots of people in the class. 

Thanks for reading, I hope that this post can encourage you to think or even talk to people around you what you learned about these current issues in our society.