Thank You Ancestors

In 1878 Chief Michel Callihoo, my Great-Great-Great Grandfather, signed an adhesion to Treaty 6 making our family official Indians. On March 31, 1958 the entire Michel Band was enfranchised, meaning essentially we ceased to be Indians. In 1985 under Bill C-31 over 750 individuals had their Indian status restored, my Dad being one of them. However, my siblings and I are not status Indians, though it hasn't stopped me from trying desperately to be one.  

In the past few weeks I have reflected on this history and what it means to me. There are many stories circulated that say our family was tricked by the Federal government; in the world of Federal versus Reserve politics I can’t say I would be surprised to learn that the Feds had an ulterior motive but what does it really mean almost 60 years later?

From my own spiritual perspective I believe everything happens for a reason. There is a Divine plan at place in what can often feel like chaos. I have been able to extend this out to my life to include some of the particularly shitty stories from my past. Yes I was sexually abused AND that experience has been one of my biggest teachers. Yes my marriage recently ended AND I have learned a lot about love in the process.  It doesn’t mean I’m out looking for my next shit storm to teach me a few lessons (nor do I wish anyone to learn them the same way) but I can honestly reflect on my experiences and say, without a doubt, that I have grown immensely as a human being because of them.

But back to my family. Recently I started thinking, what if they knew exactly what they were doing? I do actually believe that I am perfectly created. I am here, in the right place, at the right time, and surely I had the right lineage. I’m not a status Indian because I wasn’t supposed to be. It doesn’t make me less than, it just gives me a different experience and I am not inherently wrong because of it.

It also provided me with a lot of freedom to learn because I am not attached to a community or a specific way of doing things. It means I have learned the joy and love of ceremony from doing. I’ve learned from experimentation. I’ve developed a deep trust to my own connection to God.

I know I have extended family who continue to fight to have our rights restored and to have our land restored. And for myself, in a way, I’ve been trying to get back on to a reserve, trying to be enough, trying to be “right” for a very long time.  I tried to marry into community and I actually lived on a reserve (and had a breakdown in the process). In retrospect I can’t help but giggle at myself.

What if I stopped cycling the stories that we were robbed of our land and what if I said instead:

“I trust in the wisdom of my ancestors and

I trust everything happened exactly as it should have”

Because ultimately I trust the wisdom and love of Creator and I intend to see where trust leads me.