Becoming Métis: Overcoming Internalized Racism

Introduction “Internalized racism is the personal conscious or subconscious acceptance of the dominant society’s racist views, stereotypes and biases of one’s ethnic group. It gives rise to patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that result in discriminating, minimizing, criticizing, finding fault, invalidating, and hating oneself while simultaneously valuing the dominant culture” this is how the TAARM defines internalized racism. Métis people from the beginning have been shunned and ridiculed by society. Not fitting with one culture or another can be extremely difficult to understand and deal with. This is my story, the story of becoming Métis after dismissing my real idenitiy.

I am Métis 18 years later, I finally find myself finding

Her book makes me do a lot of personal reflecting on how I can help reshape my family to celebrate their Métis identity. Fiola makes me realize once inner security and self-confidence is claimed that racism can be addressed in constructive ways, to get to the root of our problems. Realizing that I am internally racist to my own culture was very hard but the book helped provide me with evidence that other people can reclaim their identity and be proud. The Indigenous people she interviewed helped me realize that I can do reshape my identity and become a spiritual women. I found a lot of peace within her sharing these stories and expanding on how the Métis people lived and have gotten to where they are today. Fiola (2014) talks about Louis Riel in an inspiring light how he managed to “straddle two cultures, Native and white, and came as close as anyone to envisioning a sympathetic an equitable relationship between the two. That Canadians may someday achieve this vision that remains Louis Riel’s legacy”. Louis Riel is a dominant figure to many Métis people, including my self. Riel shows me that many people have made sacrifices to get me to where I am today as a Métis