A woman from eastern Ontario was in court on Oct. 20 challenging the federal government

A woman from eastern Ontario was in court on Oct. 20 challenging the federal government after being denied Indian status in 1995 because she doesn’t know the identity of one of her grandfathers. Lynn Gehl’s grandmother and father have status, but she was denied.

“They made the assumption that this unknown grandfather was a non-Indian man, and through the process of that assumption I was denied Indian status registration.”

Without status Gehl (Algonquin-Anishinaabe) cannot live on the reserve nor have a say in the decisions of her community. Technical arguments were heard in Ontario Superior Court to see if the case can continue in the court system.