Understanding Métis Recognition Through Powley and Daniels
When I reached out to the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) about my application, I wasn’t expecting a perfect answer. I knew my family’s story didn’t fit neatly into today’s categories. But I had the documentation, the lineage, the names in the registers—proof that my ancestors were called Métis in their own time.
I wrote to my regional MNO representative, not to challenge the process, but to understand it. His reply was thoughtful, compassionate—and incredibly revealing. Because what he said helps explain why so many Métis families like mine find themselves in limbo.
Here’s what he told me, and what it means.
The Crux of It: “You’re Métis—but maybe not under Powley”
The MNO wrote, in part:
“With changing definitions occasioned by the Supreme Court, while your ancestry may not be considered as Section 35 Rights-bearing Métis today, it may instead be considered ‘Métis’ under the more recent Daniels supreme court case. MNO only represents Section 35 communities and individuals, not people who may be considered Métis under the Daniels decision.”
Let’s unpack that.
Powley vs. Daniels: Two Supreme Court Cases, Two Different Standards
There are two major legal decisions that shape how Métis identity is recognized in Canada today:
Powley (2003) – “Section 35 Métis”
The R. v. Powley decision confirmed that Métis people have constitutional rights under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
So, what does that mean? Well, to be considered a Section 35 rights-bearing Métis person, you must show:
Proof of Indigenous ancestry
Ancestral connection to a historic Métis community
A contemporary connection to a Métis community and culture
Yes, but haven’t I already proven that?
Well, it depends who you ask. Yes, recognized representative (by the federal government) organizations like the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) use this Powley Section 35 test to determine eligibility for citizenship… and that means they also define which geographic communities count as “historic”—usually centred around Red River and the most northern parts of Ontario.
Even if your ancestor was clearly Métis—recognized as such within the 18th and 19th centuries, as mine was—if they weren’t from one of the recognized official historic Métis communities, your claim for Section 35 rights can be denied.
Daniels (2016) – “Federal Responsibility for Métis”
The Daniels v. Canada case determined that Métis and non-status Indians fall under federal jurisdiction (Section 91(24) of the Constitution Act).
This means that the federal government now has legal responsibility for Métis people, even if they don’t belong to Section 35 rights-bearing communities.
However—Daniels does not grant specific rights, nor does it define Métis identity—it simply says that Métis people, broadly speaking, should be recognized and served by the federal government.
Under Daniels, you may still be Métis—just not in a way that means “rights bearing” and gets you recognized by the MNO and lets you exercise land or harvesting rights.
What should I tell my children?
Are my children Métis and belong in Indigenous spaces—or are they only really just people with Métis ancestry?
So What Was the MNO Really Saying?
To be clear—the MNO wasn’t denying that my family is Indigenous. They are not questioning the documents. They are not even saying we’re wrong to reclaim our Métis identity.
The MNO has really just told me: “This system wasn’t built for you.”
Yes, I can clearly demonstrate:
Indigenous ancestry (Marie Mite8ameg8k8e)
A direct line to a documented historic Métis community (Michilimackinac)
Continued cultural participation through language, kinship, occupation (interpreter, voyageur), and records naming direct descendants as Métis.
This evidence demonstrates that my family was not simply “mixed” but Métis. The roles my ancestors played—interpreter, cultural broker, matriarch—were not incidental. They were Métis roles, performed in Métis spaces, and documented as such.
Yet, the MNO has explained that even people with 1600s - 1800s Indigenous lineage and Métis ancestors who lived Métis lives may not qualify under Powley Section 35—because to become a rights-holding Métis person, the emphasis is now on geographic, community-based recognition.
We are from Michilimackinac (Fort de Buade) – The First Métis Homeland in the East.
At the straits between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan (present-day Mackinac County, Michigan), we find the place where my family originated from, which is:
One of the earliest and most culturally mixed fur trade hubs in North America
Populated by Odawa, Algonquin, Huron, Ojibwa, and French settlers
Home to interpreters, voyageurs, and their Indigenous or mixed-heritage wives, like Maurice Ménard and Madeleine Couc
Described by historians as having a matrifocal Métis structure where women like my ancestors were interpreters, brokers, and providers.
Michilimackinac is widely recognized by historians as a historic Métis community, especially within the context of the Great Lakes fur trade.
It absolutely qualifies historically as a Métis community in cultural, social, and genealogical terms.
Métis cultural markers were present: use of multiple Indigenous and French languages, foodways like sagamité, cultural clothing, and kin-based economic relationships.
These communities—Michilimackinac, Fort Pontchartrain, and Oka—were part of a networked fur trade culture that predates the Red River settlement and meets the spirit of the Powley test.
So Where Does That Leave Us?
The MNO has reviewed my application for citizenship and asked for further documentation. They said that my ancestors “may have done many of the same activities” as recognized Métis, but may not technically be rights-bearing Métis in the Section 35 sense.
They would be Métis in the Section 15 sense.
Yes, my family lived as Métis, in Métis-functioning communities, even if those communities aren’t on today’s official list.
That’s the core paradox: the Métis Nation is being asked to forget the places where it was first born.
And some families are Section 35 (rights to land, harvest, hunt, etc.) and some families are Section 15 (no specific Indigenous rights).
The MNO has encouraged me to explore other organizations like the Métis Nation of Canada or the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples—groups that may represent Métis who fall under the Daniels Section 15 framework.
For many people in my genetic line, this doesn’t sit right.
It comes down to interpretation of historic documentation. Analysis of primary and secondary sources. A contextual understanding of what it meant to be part of the community in those times.
What it meant to be a post-contact Indigenous group.
Although some definitions and perspectives vary, Michilimackinac was not only historic Métis community, but my ancestors were at the core of it and helped build it.
For the Ones Still Waiting
If you’re from the Ménard line—or any other Great Lakes Métis family whose ancestors were voyageurs, interpreters, wives, midwives, and builders of this culture—you’re not alone.
You may not fit the map.
But you still carry the story.
The MNO has helped me see where the technical and legal walls are.
Together, it’s our job to keep researching, writing, talking about these issues—with the goal of showing why the walls may need to move. And why we have every right to reclaim our place in our historic communities.
