NAFPS Forum

I think they do merit their own thread. Apparently,  many of their members have no Indigenous ancestry. Also, having Indigenous ancestry does not mean a person is Metis. Metis is a very specific identity, rooted historically with French and Scottish fur traders who married Chippewa and Cree women. But that's not all. There are also ties to the Red River area and followers of Lois Riel. My late husband's father fit all the criteria,  even though he was enrolled in the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe in North Dakota. That's how I got on the Metis Families Facebook page.

I'm in a Facebook group called Metis Families, started by the late Gail Morin. Gail was a genealogist (and married to my late husband's cousin) who wrote many many books on Metis people.  The consensus of the group is that the Metis Nation of Ontario is that they are pretendians. Their genealogies don't show any relationship to Metis people.  Metis people in Canada are a pretty specific bunch.

My bolding. The Metis Nation of Ontario has been mentioned in three earlier comments (both pro and con) in the NAFPS forum.

They maintain a comprehensive web site: https://www.metisnation.org/

They are also on: • Twitter  • Facebook  • Instagram  • LinkedIn  • YouTube. See links at bottom of their website.

Maybe this large group should be invetigated in a separate topic?

I'm not quite able to catch what he says in this intro, something like: "My name is Eagle and White Tail Deer is my clan helper".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0LBlfsuFJc

John is a Metis (Cree and French) from Saskatchewan who lives in Ontario. He has travelled extensively in North America and Australia speaking with and learning from Elders.

https://www.centreforpeace.ca/our-people

2009:

John, a Metis from Saskatchewan, brings experiences gained
from many years of sharing with and learning from elders from
all over Turtle Island (North America), as well as time spent
with the Aborigines in Australia, to his workshops.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090827231038/http://www.skybuffalo.net/about.html

2013:

"Aboriginal Artists in Schools" grant: https://www.arts.on.ca/oac/media/oac/Publications/Annual%20Reports%20ENG-FR/2013-2014-OAC-GrantListings-Final-EN-FINAL-s.pdf?ext=.pdf
2017:

Sky Buffalo Drum Workshop with MNO citizen John Somosi

https://www.metisnation.org/news/turtle-island-heritage-festival/

(discussion on the Metis Nation of Ontario https://www.tvo.org/article/what-is-the-metis-nation-of-ontario-and-why-is-it-so-controversial )

2018:

Are you called to birth your own sacred drum?
We are honoured to have John Somosi, Sky Buffalo from the Ojibwe tribe on 6th & 7th of July in Cork on his tour of Ireland! 💚
John is Metis, First Nations Canadian and teaches the Ojibway traditions of Sweat lodges, Fasting, Drum making, Sun Dance, and Sacred Traditional Pipe Ceremony.
John Sommosi a pipe carrier brings experiences gained from many years of sharing with and learning from elders from all over Turtle Island (North America), as well as time spent with the Aborigines in Australia, to his workshops.

"I am a person that is following an Ojibwa based traditional path for the last 29 years. I found that the simple basic teachings are of great benefit to those seeking earth based teachings. Using the traditions I follow allow others to be in touch with their ancestors so they can learn or relearn their own from their culture. Using humour is key to what I do. I am a Windigocon(Sacred Clown) and laughter is a powerful medicine.

https://www.facebook.com/events/quaker-meeting-house-summerhill-s-ballintemple-cork-t12-xw8r/sacred-drum-making-workshop-with-first-nations-john-somosi/2114880485436242/

2019:

Ancient cultures have a long tradition of healing and purifying ceremonies. Some members travel abroad sometimes, to help others reconnect to their own traditional way of living.

JOHN SOMOSI, a First Nations Canadian Metis, is one of them. He's been to Slovenia for the second time recently, to run a traditional Native American sweat lodge, among other teachings.

https://radiosi.rtvslo.si/podcast/spotlight/173250932/174635905

2023:

Traditional pipe ceremony at our Full Transformational Retreat in Hungary with John Somosi native american indian brother.
Aho!

https://www.facebook.com/Urukla/videos/traditional-pipe-ceremony-at-our-full-transformational-retreat-in-hungary-with-j/3644033372589769/

There is also a 2024 article, outlining the death of Brandon Begley:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-bankrupt-ayahuasca-church-where-negligence-led-to-death/

At the Soul Quest Ayahuasca Church of Mother Earth retreat center, on the opposite side of Orlando to Disney World Florida, guests are promised a “profound journey of spiritual discovery.” But in 2018, 22-year-old Brandon Begley died there after drinking ayahuasca. A court later found that the people who were supposed to be taking care of Begley while he drank the powerful Amazonian psychedelic were at fault for his death.

A bitter legal fight is now underway for the $15 million that the court ordered Soul Quest and its owner to pay Begley’s family, who say they will use it for charitable good. It’s all a far cry from what you’d think psychedelic medicine is supposed to be about.

We received an email from her sister. I'm posting the whole thing unedited.

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Hello,

My name is Caroline Rouwalk, enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, and descendant of the Pawnee Nation and Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians. I recently came across a posting questioning the validity of Michele Meiners' claims to Native American heritage, specifically to her claims of Chippewa heritage. I am her sister, as you found out in the obituary from our sister, Bernadette Byrd from 2020. I am just writing to clear up the question of Michele's mentioning Chippewa heritage.

We are half Navajo from my mother's side and we are also Pawnee and Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians descendants from my father's side. As I mentioned before, I am enrolled with the Navajo Nation, however, Michele has chosen to enroll with the Pawnee nation and holds a Pawnee Nation ID card and has a Certificate of Indian Blood, as do all my sisters. The claims for "Chippewa" heritage comes from our great grandmother, Rose Denomie, who was half Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and half French Canadian. She was married to our Pawnee great grandfather, Henry Roberts, son of the Pawnee Chief Rush Roberts. Here is the Carlisle Indian link to her records there that show she was a member of Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians:

https://carlisleindian.dickinson.edu/student_files/rose-denomie-student-file

Also another good resource:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Denomie-19

Rose and Henry were parents to my grandmother, Edith Roberts Beardsley of Pawnee, OK, who was mother to my father, Donald Dean Rouwalk (deceased).

Following the blood quantum of Rose Denomie to our generation, that makes us 1/16th Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.

I hope that clears up Michele's claims to Chippewa heritage.

Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions about our heritage. I am a long time supporter of denouncing pretendians and appreciate your work.

FYI, I was trying to register and join the forum where the posting was, but kept getting an error message.

Sincerely,
Caroline Elizabeth Rouwalk
Enrolled member of the Navajo Nation