So, does any of this matter? Apparently it does, "If your parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent was born in Canada, you may already be a Canadian citizen. Canada’s new citizenship law — Bill C-3, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act — has permanently removed the first-generation limit which previously prevented Canadian citizenship from passing beyond one generation born outside Canada. For Americans with Canadian ancestry, the implications are enormous. Until now, many of these families were cut off from Canadian citizenship by rules which were rigid, arbitrary, and often discriminatory. Bill C-3 has changed this. Many of these individuals are part of a group known as “Lost Canadians” — people with legitimate Canadian ancestry whose citizenship was never recognized or was stripped away by outdated laws."
I have been researching my ancestors and found more than 1/3 of them were Canadians! So, knowing this, I have been busy tracking down the documentation needed to show I am a "Lost Canadian". I was going to track my line to my Great-grandpa Bristol, since he was the "closest" Canadian relative, but he and his family moved to the USA when he was just a child and documentation showing his birth in Canada would be difficult to get - not impossible, but challenging.
Then I thought I'd go back one more generation and work to show my connection to my Great-great Grandpa Cooper, but learned my grandma's birth certificate is "gone" - the township office where it was kept caught on fire, and so her birth certificate burned as well. This can be overcome with other documentation, but I decided to work on my connection to my Great-great grandma Lewis - and learned something amazing making this the best line to show connection!
Apparently, it looks like my Great-great grandma Lewis' grandma may very well have been a
Historically, Indigenous women lost their status if they married non-Indigenous men. Bill C-3 (passed in 2010) allows the grandchildren of women who lost their status due to marriage to non-status men to finally be eligible for 6(2) status. If my Great-great-great-great grandma was a member of a Mi'kmaq band and married a non-status man (such as her husband), she would have "enfranchised" (lost status). Under Bill C-3, her daughter and granddaughter might have been eligible to have their status recognized or reinstated posthumously in family records. If I am able to show my Great-great-great-great grandma was part of a specific Mi'kmaq community in Nova Scotia this will serve as the "bridge" which explains why my Great-grandma, Great-great grandma, and Great-great-great grandma might have lived as a non-status people in Michigan despite having a mother/grandmother who was Mi'kmaq. It corrects the legal record which previously "erased" the Indigenous identity of women in my line.
Since my Great-great-great-great grandma was born in Nova Scotia (likely as a member of the Mi'kmaq Nation) and later lived in Canada and the U.S., her lineage falls directly under the historical categories Bill C-3 (and now Bill S-3) were designed to fix. This allows me to legally argue all my Great grandmas were "entitled" to status which was stripped from them solely because of my Great-great-great-great grandma marriage. If I am able to prove they had "Indian Status" (or were entitled to it) and this status was lost solely because she married a non-Indigenous man, Bill S-3 allows this status to be restored down the maternal line to me. In Canada, someone with Indian Status is entitled to be recognized as a Canadian citizen. This process allows my children and grandchildren to obtain Canadian passports and rights.
I might not be able to show my great grandmas were Mi'kmaq, but if I do this will surely be one of the best surprises of my life!
One photo is of my Great-great-great grandma and the other two are from https://novascotia.ca/museum/mikmaq/?section=image&page=17&id=421&period=®ion=Nova%20Scotia
No comments:
Post a Comment