Ministry of Youth

CONGRATULATIONS TO MARIAH DAHL!

Mariah, a high school student in Abbotsford, won tickets to an Olympic Men's Hockey Game through her school and MYBC with her essay 'Proud to Be Métis'.

Proud to be Métis

By Mariah Dahl

I grew up most of my life not knowing a whole lot about my background. My mom was adopted at a very young age by a Norwegian family and was not raised with any Métis influence. She was told the basis of her family history but never fully explored it throughout her life.

My childhood was similar in the sense that I never participated in anything Métis and it was never a big part of my life. As I progressed through school, I learned more and more about aboriginal history and started to ask more questions about how I am related to it,. It was very interesting to find out that the people in the textbooks, who had suffered in the past, are somehow related to me. Although I never felt the same hardship they did just for being Métis, I have learned enough about it to understand and be thankful that they did everything they could to keep their traditions alive and passed on through generations.

Being Métis is not something that you can choose to be or not. I am very proud to know that I am a part of the history and that I am carrying on the pride I am sure they all had for their culture. I hope to someday be able to tell my children about their heritage and I hope that they share the same pride I do.