Sylvia Van Kirk's Study On Mixed-Blood Identity

Sylvia Van Kirk and her study on mixed-blood identity. In the article “’What if Mama is an Indian?’: The Cultural Ambivalence of the Alexander Ross Family” Van Kirk argues that the Riel Resistance of 1869-70, polarized the Red River settlement into “two elements-white and Metis.” (Van Kirk, 134) This polarization complicated the position of mixed-blood people in the community. As Van Kirk notes, the often racist cultural biases of whites within the community “denied to this group the successful integration into white society that they desired.” (Van Kirk, 134) The result of this denial, according to Van Kirk meant “Anglophone mixed-bloods lacked a distinct cultural identity based on the duality of their heritage.” (Van Kirk, 134) As Van