Yellowknife (Sep 10/03) - During the opening day of his civil suit against the North Slave Metis Alliance, former director Bill Enge's testimony centred on his family's long history in the North.

"My family lived here prior to 1921," he said on the stand.

Bloodlines have become a major issue in the five-year suit, which got under way Monday in Supreme Court.

Enge was kicked out of the alliance in 1998 after board members determined his family moved to the North Slave after 1921, the cut-off date for registering as a North Slave Metis.

In August, Enge called alliance claims that he didn't qualify to be a North Slave Metis "nonsense."

He believes former president Clem Paul revoked his membership as part of a power grab for the alliance, which posted a $1.6 million surplus last year. "We're direct descendants of Pierre Mercredi," said Enge on the stand.

He testified that Mercredi worked for the Hudson Bay Company from 1915 to 1917 in the area surrounding Fort Rae.

Enge is suing to have his membership --along with those of 87 others-- renewed.

He's also seeking a court injunction preventing the alliance's board from conducting business until after a new election is held.