"How Métis are You?"

Seeds beads on canvas, 2019.

I was recently asked by a settler “How Métis are you?”. At first I was thrown off by the question because it is something I have never considered, nor have been asked before. When I think of myself as Métis, I don’t think of a number or a blood percentage, I just identify as Métis. At the time I did not answer the question. Reflecting back on the conversation, I decided to create an answer in the best way I knew how – through beadwork. Centring language and craft as a methodology of resistance, my answer is presented in Anishinaabemowin as a rhetorical question directed towards settler audience. Our identity should not be questioned as something quantifiable.