Mixed-up

My lineage continued: My head still spins and I continue to feel Mixed up! The woman in this photo is related (I don’t know exactly how? I need to see a family tree) to my grandmother, Emma, she is Sophie Georgeson. The man is her husband Scotty, they were the first light house keepers on mayne island. So, of course Emma was a Georgeson before she married Felix Jack.... Emma was Musqueam.

My lineage continued: My head still spins and I continue to feel Mixed up! The woman in this photo is related (I don’t know exactly how? I need to see a family tree) to my grandmother, Emma, she is Sophie Georgeson. The man is her husband Scotty, they were the first light house keepers on mayne island. So, of course Emma was a Georgeson before she married Felix Jack.... Emma was Musqueam.

Been thinking quite a bit about this piece, I think (at this point), its final iteration will be a film!!

Transformation How do I tell this story as not a theatre piece?Transformation How do I tell this story as not a theatre piece?

Thank you for sharing Carolina Miranda

From today, a moment of feeling very mixed up and feeling very disconnected!! I bumped into a few Band members on my walk on the Reserve this morning, sounds benign but: I get home and say to Bill:... I bumped into Indians on my walk!! I said it, like I wasn’t (Indian), Bill laughed!! Amusing but not!!

And, I thought I could not feel more "mixed up", yikes!! I have never been good with family trees, I do not fully understand connections outside of immediate family. It is confusing and honestly I have never been really interested. This is more confusing when one is a direct result of colonization and genocide: me (and many others). ... What has added to my whole feeling of being of mixed ancestry? Matrilineal systems, it was always my understanding that Coast Salish People were all matrilineal. If this is true? My lineage is from my Grandma Emma's side. But, due to colonization, poor records or no records being kept when it came to many First Nations women! Alas. There is no clear record of where Emma was from. Her married name was Georgeson. Part of the Georgeson blood that resulted from Scotty Geogeson marrying some First Nations woman: Sophie. No one knows where she was (definitively) from. Two strong possibilities: Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh. Yes, I am connected to Cowichan Tribes, Comiaken Nation on my Grandfather's side but this of course is paternal and not our system. On my "status card", I am affiliated with Cowichan. I am now officially over filling with confusion and feeling more: "Mixed-up!". If this isn't clear? Well, it isn't!! Photo: Glenda King