In a Q&A with the Globe and Mail, Latimer said that she commissioned two scholars to investigate her family tree. She said that their conclusion supports her claim.

She told the newspaper: “I am a French-Canadian Metis, not a mixed Algonquin.”

“This is the fact that I can accept.”

Latimer, in a blog post Published May 11 She said: “She is a direct descendant of the aboriginal people scattered in the upper reaches of Baskatoon, Quebec.”

Baskatong is a now-disappeared community, also known as Baskatong Bridge. It is a Catholic church north of Kitigan Zibi, where French Canadians live with Algonquin.

Latimer, former director of the CBC TV series con manAfter being censored, it was commissioned to write this report after claiming to be “the legacy of Algonquin, Métis and French from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg (Maniwaki) of Que”.in a Press Release of the National Film Bureau on August 14, 2020 Documentary about her Inconvenient indians. The lawsuit attracted the attention of Kitigan Zibi members, who began to question her family’s connection with the community. She resigned last year.

Some of the clues involved in the discovery and conclusion of Latimer’s ancestors also run through the several years of legal battles in the Eastern Canadian Court, which defeated the established indigenous people.

One of the co-authors of the Latimer report is Sebastien Malette, an associate professor of law and legal studies at Carleton University. Malette was in Que in Kitty Gandsby’s hometown. Maniwaki helps an organization that claims to have indigenous rights in Métis. The case involved a member of the Maniwaki group who had indigenous rights under the constitution to maintain a hunting camp on royal land.

Marlette’s work claimed that Metis existed in parts of eastern Canada, a theory that was rejected by other Metis scholars. The homeland of the Metis is usually considered to be the western part of the Great Lakes.

Kitigan Zibi CEO Dylan Whiteduck said the case may reduce Algonquin’s rights in land and resources.He said the leadership is considering intervention

“This is indeed right [Algonquin] Country, especially Kitigan Zibi First Nations. “Whiteduck said.

He said that this will allow the organization to “start boasting in areas that they think belongs to them, which is absurd. They will start to say that their rights are… trapping, hunting, fishing… this is the ultimate goal. This one The whole thing is to try to deprive the indigenous people of their due rights to inherit this land.”

Whiteduck said that after reading Latimer’s interview in the Globe, only Algonquin can determine who is a member of their country-he doesn’t think Latimer is one of them.

“No legal determination”

Malette said in an email statement that no legal decision has been made regarding the historical status of the Maniwaki Metis community, and he plans to provide expert testimony during the trial in the summer of 2022. He has provided expert reports and testified in earlier hearings.

Malette wrote: “In Quebec, the Métis may threaten the sovereignty of the Aboriginal and Inuit people. In various debates, this threat is often exaggerated and played out; moreover, it ignores the subject matter. Existing jurisprudence.”

“There are appropriate judicial principles and mechanisms to negotiate and resolve disputes between indigenous peoples, but this will not cause any party to fail.”

In the past two decades, in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, there have been dozens of similar cases from groups and individuals who have claimed the rights of the Métis. So far, no one has succeeded.

French book ” Bois-Brûlés: The untold story of the Métis people in western Quebec Won the 2020 Canadian Award from the Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences.Federal Indigenous Advisory Circle Resigned shortly after the book won.

In a statement issued at the time, the author stated that the Metis people in eastern Canada were “deprived of the possibility of forming communities to allow vulnerable members of the diaspora to drift.”

Their statement stated that their book was based on an analysis of “ethnic historical records” and showed the existence of the Métis community in the Otauwais region of Quebec, despite the fact that “certain local studies” and the government denied the Métis community. exist.

Their statement said: “We know that such work may offend some readers who believe in the definition of identity and maintain the sensitivity of the political stance surrounding that definition.”

“We do hope that ultimately our work will encourage respectful dialogue.”

proposed question

After the film industry surfaced, questions about Latimer’s native identity began to increase.

Latimer confirmed this in her blog post, as previously reported by CBC News, Inconvenient indians “Special” to her roots, which led to the release of NFB news. She wrote that she never intended to imply that she was a member of Kitigan Zibi or had Aboriginal status.

“My intention of naming Kitigan Zibi recently is to determine my identity geographically, because I am closely linked to the complex history and cultural reality of the “Algonquinian” or Métis people in the Gatineau Valley. This complexity is portrayed as my attempt to fabricate or forge a false identity for personal gain. This is not true at all,” Latimer wrote.

Latimer said in a statement emailed to CBC News last time: “I am sincerely sorry for publicly naming the Kitigan Zibi community until I have completed all the necessary work to understand this connection.” Via Facebook in December A similar statement was made publicly.

Concerns from members of Kitigan Zibi led to a CBC News investigation finding that Latimer’s direct lineage had two indigenous ancestors dating back to the 17th century. According to the Globe, the genealogy report commissioned by Latimer follows the same genealogy route.

Latimer did not respond to requests for comment via email or phone. She has published a defamation notice in CBC News.

Latimer pointed out in her blog post that she was connected to Kitigan Zibi through the marriage of her great-grandfather’s brother to Cecilia Natowesi. Natovic’s descendants live in Kitigan Zibi.

“Her ancestors lived in an indigenous world”

Latimer wrote that this connection allowed her to form a “modern blood relationship” with Elder Anne Smith St. George of Kitigan Zibi (later the elder of the National Art Center in Ottawa).

Smith St. Georges said that Latimer asked her for help.

She said: “My role is, if someone asks for something, I will help them.”

Smith St. Georges said her family was connected to Latimer’s ancestral line through marriage.

She said that she believes Latimer has indigenous ancestry, and she needs to keep searching, because the process of truly understanding where and who you are will take years.

Smith St. George said: “She has indigenous ancestry, and her ancestors lived in an indigenous world.”

“She must go in a canoe more.”

Latimer also wrote in a blog post that her ancestors experienced a “certain amount” of “Al” recorded by Qua’s Oka’s expedition to the Lake of Two Mountains in 1721. Gunkun ancestors”.

Latimer wrote: “Especially my mixed Algonquin and French Canadian heritage has been strengthened after the five generations of Algonquin and French Canadians inhabited and intermarried in the unsecured Algonquin territory in western Quebec. , And later crossed the Ottawa River into northeastern Ontario.”.

Latimer wrote in her blog post that she learned about her heritage and culture from her grandfather, hunting and fishing guide.

“His knowledge and respect for the land is a gift he has handed down, and it continues to affect who I am today.”

In later years, Latimer said that she and other artists established an urban indigenous community.

Latimer wrote: “I am still a loyal supporter of indigenous representatives and autonomy, telling stories that celebrate indigenous culture, resilience and resistance.”

“The pain I feel”

The famous niece and great niece of Metis leader Louis Riel, Jean Teillet (Jean Teillet) said that she read Latimer’s words in an article in the “Globe”.

Teillet said: “From my point of view, this is an illusion.” with Published a book about the history of Metis, titled Northwest is our mother.

Tiette said: “I think this is very harmful to both the legal Metis community and the legal Algonquin community.”

“Most legitimate Metis groups… they don’t accept someone who found such a great grandmother in the 1600s alone. This won’t work. This is not a culture. This is just a fact of genealogy.”

Researcher Darryl Leroux wrote a book on the growing claims of the Metis identity in Eastern Canada. He has criticized Malette’s writings in the past, but she told Latimer There are still doubts about my own history-from the Algonquin ancestors on the banks of the two mountains and lakes to the idea of ??intermarriage.

Leroux, an associate professor in the Department of Social Justice and Community Studies at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, said: “The proximity to the indigenous people does not make the indigenous people an aboriginal.”

Kyle St-Amour Brennan stated that Latimer was initially introduced to the band official in charge of membership to help her search. He said he had contacted Latimer after news about Latimer’s claim to be in contact with the community, and they spoke about it three times on the phone.

Kitigan Zibi members now regret the decision after reading the text she published in Globe and blog posts.

Band member St-Amour Brennan said: “My frustration, injury and slight embarrassment… will eventually lead to further marginalization of my community.” The band members come from the ancestors of Baskatong.

Kitigan Zibi principal Whiteduck said: “Unfortunately, I do think that Ms. Latimer was led by mistake.”