Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 20/99) - The Metis Nation is being torn from within by status Indians, according to representatives of the South Slave Metis.

The dispute revolves around the attempt to define who is Metis and who is a status Indian with the organization, said Paul Harrington, president of the South Slave Metis Tribal.

"This came to a head at our forum in Fort Simpson," he said. "One chief there, Charlie Furlong, went and bought a Metis sash from a corner stand, where Metis Heritage was selling them, and went up and gave the newly-elected president, George Morin, the sash and told him he was pissed off he was turning in his sash and would no longer be affiliated with the Metis Nation."

"But when we went to the last board meeting, there he is again."

Harrington said the Metis passed a bylaw amendment in Simpson that defines who is Metis, thus excluding status Indians from membership.

The amendment passed at the AGM, defines Metis as:

-- a person who is of mixed Indian and non-Indian decent

-- a person who is not registered as an Indian under the Indian Act

"The Metis who took Indian status still want to go to Metis meetings and AGMs and have a say on Metis business," Harrington said. "We don't want that any more -- we want a forum for Metis people and we don't feel status Indians have any place at that forum."

"If the treaty Indians want a forum, they should be at a Dene forum," Harrington added.

Harrington said that many Metis could have accepted status under current legislation, but for their own philosophical or cultural reasons, have chosen not to.

"There's lots of Metis who could have taken status," he said.

The definition is critical for the Metis to establish membership numbers in any agreement between Metis and government, Harrington said.

"If we are voting on an AIP (Agreement In Principle) or a final agreement, our membership has to be clear," Harrington explained. "When it comes time to vote, the membership has to be indigenous Metis."

He said the membership question must be confirmed before the Metis Nation NWT can affiliate with the national office.

"One of the reasons the Metis Nation of the Northwest Territories is not affiliated with the Metis Nation of Canada is that our membership has to be cleaned-up first," he said. "The way the organization is formed, it's only for Metis. If you are status, you have your own forum and that's the way it should be."

Harrington said the treaty members are using Metis programs and services, of which there are limited funds.

"I've got status people coming in to apply for funding to go to school," he said. "Then young Metis come in and ask for the same thing and I have to tell them, 'I'm sorry, there's no money left.'"

"Well, that isn't right."

President of the Fort Smith Metis Council, Gord Villebrun, said in a statement that other locals should take the same stance as his in respect to status Indian membership.

"The Metis Nation belongs to the Metis, not the status Indians," Villebrun said. "The Metis Nation is going to have to get tough on that issue."

Fort Resolution Metis spokesperson Cecil Lafferty said the battle lines have been drawn.

"They're looking for a fight and they're sure as hell going to get one," Lafferty said in a statement. "Fort Resolution is not going to let a few power-hungry status Indians kill off the Metis Nation."

At press time, Metis Nation president George Morin could not be reached for comment.

Harrington says he sympathizes with the president's situation.

"George has got a tough job to do," Harrington said. "He has to be diplomatic and he has to work with what he's got."

While he understands the president's role in this, Harrington says he must first represent the interests of his people.

"As a leader, I've got to do something," he said. "People have to realize this is not over greed, it's not over personal issues. These are our friends and cousins..."