I Am Canadian

Madeleine de Vercheres

I wish, right here and now, to officially claim my heritage. As a Canadian, I am, and insist on my right to assert that I am, part French and part Indian. I do not mean by blood, although I happen to be so by blood; I mean by cultural assimilation. When I read the story of New France, I identify with the habitants, and I believe I have a natural right to. Their history is my history. When I read stories of the American Revolution, say, or the War of 1812, I identify with the Mohawks and the Wyandotte, and I believe I have a right to. Their history is my history.

Our problems as a nation are caused in part by too many of us failing to identify with this part of our heritage, and in part by those who want to claim this heritage only for themselves. Both positions are racist and wrong.

Joseph Brant, by George Romney