The blog, Black Face Blogging by Dr. Lynn Gehl, focuses largely on the treatment of First Nations women and children who are denied their status because of questions surrounding paternity. Dr. Gehl, herself an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe, has been denied First Nations status, as were her great grandmothers and grandmother, because of the absence of the father’s name/signature on their birth documents. The absence of a signature could be a result of one of a number of factors, however, Indian Affairs interprets this as evidence that the father is not of Aboriginal descent, therefore, disqualifies these children from claiming First Nations status. Because of sex discrimination in the Indian Act, children born without paternal documentation are not awarded the same rights and benefits as those First Nations children who do. This places First Nations children and their mothers at a distinct disadvantage, placing an already marginalized segment of a marginalized population at greater risk.

While obviously deeply passionate and often times inflammatory in her rhetoric, Dr. Gehl nonetheless provides a great number of resources such as government policy documents and First Nations produced web content that provides a rich dichotomy of perspectives. In addition, the site provides opportunities for readers to comment on the topics that Dr. Gehl touches on in her post, providing a forum for those who have experienced sex discrimination to share their personal stories. I was struck by the number of people, including Dr. Gehl, who placed a great deal of weight on the importance of the status card as a kind of validation or affirmation of their identity. But as Dr. Gehl notes, the denial of status due to sex discrimination is just another way for the government to further fracture First Nations communities and renege on their treaty responsibilities. In a sense then, the fight to gain status for many First Nations women and their children goes far beyond simply having one’s identity affirmed, and can be seen as a fight against the slow erosion of First Nations communities and cultures altogether.