Membership in one's family, community, and nation are important markers of identity for all human beings. Historically, as well as in the contemporary context, Kichi Sìbì Anishinàbeg are born into an extended family and given a spirit name as a means of welcoming a child to into an important network of kinship that unites and shapes us all. This practice of connecting a child to its extended family originates in time immemorial, and is reflected in contemporary birthing practices that place placentas alongside berry bushes and bury umbilical cords at the root of trees. This practice connects a child to their homeland while also building strong relationships that support an individual as they move through various stages of life. From an early age, children are guided toward behaviour and actions that promote harmony and balance within the self, family, community and natural world. The practice of living a good life is taught and maintained through the teachings of mino pimàdiziwin. Starting even before birth, a child learns to walk in a good way through the development of gifts that guide and connect an individual to their extended family relations. As a child grows, they are introduced to Seven Grandfather Teachings that encourage respectful behaviour, humility, honesty, bravery, love, wisdom, and truth so that each individual has the knowledge and tools needed to act in good ways. As such, both Mino Pimàdiziwin and the Seven Grandfather Teachings remain a core foundation that shapes the community and are, thus, important legal principles that have, and always will, govern interactions within our homeland, past, present, and future.

Unfortunately, as a result of our community’s close contact to settlers and ongoing experience of settler colonialism, these ways of building a sense of belonging have been impacted in diverse ways. As an example, although our community has never been governed by the Indian Act, its presence in the Canadian context has resulted in challenges that are still present today. Certainly, within the context of the Indian Act and its many amendments, individuals who were once considered ‘status Indians’ were stripped of their legal status and forcefully indoctrinated into a culture that denigrates and erases Indigeneity. As a result, there are many so-called ‘non-status’ Algonquin people today who have been denied status for a variety of reasons (including refusal to abandon responsibilities to relocate to reserves set aside for Algonquin people, intermarriage, education, military and religious service). However, it should be noted these individuals remain Algonquin through their ancestry, and in many cases maintain a Kichi Sìbì Anishinàbeg cultural identity through their worldviews and belief systems, knowledges, cultural practices, and ongoing maintenance of responsibilities to an extended kinship network of human and other-than-human relatives. As a representative system that governs state sanctioned recognition of Indigeneity, while at the same time reinforcing divisive beliefs concerning ‘authentic’ identity and belonging, the Indian Act continues to impact to all Indigenous individuals, families and communities today.

Thus, it is important to note once again that AAFN is a traditionally governed community and therefore does not impose Indian Act policy on Kichi Sìbì Anishinàbeg individuals and families. We have never wanted, nor needed, the federal or provincial governments to recognize us as individuals or as a community. We know that our ancestors and the spiritual beings in our homeland recognize us for who we are, and that membership is firmly grounded in the development and maintenance of Kichi Sìbì Anishinàbeg histories and teachings, ongoing cultural practices, and a sense of belonging and pride in who we are as individuals, families, and a community. As a result, our membership requirements strongly emphasize ancestral connections to one of the extended families that form the roots of our community as a first requirement, alongside a strong cultural connection and commitment to the health and wellness of both the homeland, individual families, and the community, as a whole.

As we continue to vision the future of our people and community, we look back and return to the stories, experiences, and traditional teachings of our ancestors for guidance. They have taught that kinship and belonging are embedded in all aspects of life, and that the gift of relationships also requires responsibility. The question then becomes, how do we pick up those responsibilities and walk them into our lives in a good way? This question, and its associated responsibilities, are embedded in AAFN guiding principles emphasizing mutual care, respect, and a willingness to work together in a good way to maintain a sustainable community. Identity and belonging, therefore, remains an ever evolving state of being that is rooted in ancestral genealogy but is fully developed over the course of one’s life as a result of lived experience within an extended family and community. It is also shaped by rural and urban landscapes as well as by external factors such as colonialism and colonial policy that are deeply woven through settler social, political and economic contexts. We continue to look back on the histories and experiences of our ancestors, and pull forward teachings related to both Mino Pimàdiziwin and the Seven Grandfather Teachings as core foundations shaping our membership practices and sense of belonging as individuals, families, and as a community.