Resident time before obtaining aboriginal status in Canada

Question

Hello, a friend of mine and I were having a discussion about our family origins and he stated that his family had come from France in 1748. I thought this was interesting, as the question arises to when he becomes a native or aboriginal or are they the same. My question is how long would a family have to be dwelling in Canada to obtain aboriginal status, 500 a 1000 or 2000 years or is it a question of DNA…now that is interesting. Or is the criterion for status a line drawn in time, for instance, any individual here before 100BC would have aboriginal status for perpetuity for their ancestors. I don’t mean to challenge the status quo, just a question. Is the answer… never?

Answer 1

The French were colonists, so our ancestors can't be considered Aboriginal or First Nation. My first French ancestor in Canada was Louis Hebert who arrived in 1617. He was an original settler, yet no status is afforded to him other than colonist. My great-great-great grandfather was Metis and a cousin of Louis Riel, who died trying to get rights for the Metis. There is some room for "aboriginal status", but none for First Nations status for us. Even with that, though, the government of Canada won't recognize us after 3 generations unless we have multiple lines of Metis ancestry. What we can get, though, is dual citizenship with Miquelon and St-Pierre if we can prove that one of our ancestors was one of the Acadians first exiled there. It comes in handy when using a Miquelon passport to travel to Europe.

Answer 2

It's not a matter of time in the country, but of ethnicity, and as your friends family came from France, he is not aboriginal. Canadian aboriginal citizens are Indians, Métis, and Inuit whose ancestors were native to the region before white explorers and settlers ever crossed the ocean.