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The national chief who came under fire for her comments on Métis identity last week says she didn’t want to “hurt anybody” but maintains there’s a widespread issue of people falsely claiming to be Indigenous across Canada.
When asked about the idea of abolishing the Indian Act on Oct. 26, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said there’s “a big group” of Métis people who “probably have First Nations roots” in Canada.
First Nations need control over who can claim membership, as the federal government has had too much say for too long, the national chief said.
“There’s a lot of confused people out there who are claiming to be Indigenous, a lot of pretendians, and then a whole group of everybody else who says, ‘I’m Métis,'” she said.
“Can you trace yourself back to a First Nation?”
Métis leaders condemned the remarks, including Manitoba Métis Federation President David Chartrand, who called them “racist,” as the Métis are included in Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution, which recognizes and affirms Aboriginal rights.
CBC News asked Woodhouse Nepinak on Tuesday about Chartrand’s response and whether she felt she misspoke.
“This is bigger than a Manitoba issue,” she said. “This is a Canada-wide issue, and I think there is pretendianism, and there [are] box-checkers in educational institutions, in governments, in government contracting, in business development.”
The national chief said Canada created the issue and must “rectify the wrongs” caused by the Indian Act, which dictates who is classified as a status Indian, as well as Bill S-2 — proposed federal legislation that would end the second-generation cutoff for Indian status eligibility.
Decried as “legislative extinction” and “definitional genocide,” the second-generation cutoff blocks children from acquiring Indian status when two consecutive generations of parents have a partner who is non-status.
“Deal with all of those issues first, on lands and the issues of membership with First Nations, before trying to dovetail into other groups of people in this country,” Woodhouse Nepinak said.
The national chief said she did not intend to cause harm with her comments last week.
“It’s the truth that there’s a big problem in this country with identity and identity issues, with certain groups of people,” she said.
“You should be able to trace yourself back to First Nations people…. I’ll leave that there.”
Indian Act discussion ‘sideswiped’ other issues
The national chief’s initial remarks came as First Nations leaders and Canada’s first ministers met to discuss Indigenous rights for the first time in two decades. During that meeting, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called for the Indian Act to be abolished.
On Tuesday, Woodhouse Nepinak also disputed claims by Kinew and Prime Minister Mark Carney that the idea to change or abolish the Indian Act was raised and supported by some chiefs in the room.
“No one” else brought up abolishing the Indian Act during the landmark meeting, the national chief said.
The chiefs involved had spent weeks preparing for the meeting and were focused more on the major projects legislation they say threatens their rights, but those conversations “went to the wayside” when Kinew and Carney made their remarks, she said.
“Those conversations can’t be sideswiped just on one bombshell,” Woodhouse Nepinak told reporters during a media scrum in Ottawa on Tuesday.
