EDITOR’S NOTE: After this article was published, our sister site MidlandToday learned that Cindy Cook is not the real name of the person who has posted genealogy records about Hank Rowlinson. She uses a pseudonym online to shield her identity because she says she fears retribution. The article has been updated to include those facts.
The Indigenous ancestry of the Métis Nation of Ontario’s (MNO) chair is being called into question.
While currently on leave as he deals with health issues, genealogy records provided to MidlandToday suggest Hank Rowlinson doesn’t have any actual FNMI (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) blood.
Rowlinson, who grew up in Sault Ste. Marie and now lives with his wife in Sudbury, says these allegations are false and that he has hired an investigator to track down the perpetrators.
“It’s a drive-by smear campaign,” Rowlinson tells MidlandToday in a phone interview.
“It’s not the first time. I’m just the flavour of the month they’re going after. Somebody started with false information and it’s like everything — it snowballs.”
Over the past few months, a woman claiming to be an “expert genealogist” has repeatedly posted ancestry records on social media that suggest Rowlinson has no Indigenous roots. The documents have been widely shared.
The woman uses a pseudonym online — Cindy Cook — because she says she fears retribution and wants to remain anonymous.
“I have thoroughly vetted this information,” the woman says. “I live where the chair of the MNO was raised and know his family and know that he is in no way Aboriginal.”
In a social media post, Indigenous activist Crystal Semaganis says she and Rowlinson have many common friends and he is, by all accounts, a “popular” guy.
“Everyone figures that because he is chair of the Métis Nation of Ontario and you’ve seen him at recent events like the MNO’s Annual Grifters Assembly….I mean AGA….everyone is going to assume this man is Métis.
“He is not, not one drop of FNMI blood — like the majority of the MNO is … not even Métis.”
Semaganis says her organization, the Ghost Warrior Society, estimates that only 15 per cent of MNO members “are actually Red River. Forty per cent are non-status descendants of a First Nation, and the rest are straight-up settlers like Henry here.”
When it comes to Rowlinson, Semaganis says the ancestry profile shows that his father was Serbian and there are no Indigenous descendants on his mother’s side.
“Shake that tree as hard as you want, and nothing but settlers falls out of that tree,” she says.
But Rowlinson says those raising concerns don’t have the proper information regarding his ancestry.
“My great-grandmother and great-grandfather hail from Manitoba. That’s where I get my Métis ancestry from. They got scrip,” he says, noting Alfred Oliver Roy and Kathy Amandière (sp.) were from St. Norbert, Man.
“If they had the proper information on my ancestry and know the history of my family, they would obviously not be targeting me.”
Rowlinson says he has met the citizen requirements of the MNO and that “I’ve proven myself through a third-party registry, Know History.”
Once his investigator tracks down the names and addresses of those who are saying he’s not Métis, Rowlinson says his lawyer will file a “libel, slander and defamation lawsuit against everybody involved.”
Rowlinson says the MNO takes ensuring the legitimacy of its registry seriously.
“With the Métis Nation of Ontario, we have a third-party registrar. There’s no political interference. We’ve just gone through an in-depth review of everybody’s file.”
Rowlinson says he doesn’t understand why the MNO is being targeted by various groups, including the Manitoba Métis Federation and Chiefs of Ontario, which held a conference highlighting what it sees as Indigenous identity fraud earlier this year.
Adds Rowlinson: “If they had the education [they wouldn’t]. You can’t change the facts of history.”
Semaganis, meanwhile, is irked that the MNO continues to receive large amounts of annual funding since it’s “tight with [Premier] Doug Ford to keep the money train going. Disgusting.”
The MNO receives close to $150 million in annual funding from the provincial and federal governments, something that upsets Semaganis, who is originally from Saskatchewan but now lives in Ontario.
“They have more funding and programs, post-secondary education dollars than a Status Indian does in Ontario and probably more than any in Canada.”
Until recently, the Ghost Warrior Society listed people across the country that they determined weren’t actually Indigenous. The group still offers resources on its website for those looking to uncover what it calls ‘Pretendians’ along with a cartoon bear video.
On its website, the MNO notes that Rowlinson has more than 25 years of full-time experience working various roles within the MNO.
“A steadfast advocate for the Métis, Hank brings commitment, experience and determination that is needed as we enter into an era of self-government,” the MNO notes.
“Respecting our statement of prime purpose, Hank believes that the way forward needs to be one of hope, optimism and vigilance and that we must be united to overcome barriers that may stand in our way.”
Last year, the MNO featured 19 people on the province‘s so-called Sunshine List, with Rowlinson receiving $120,800 in compensation.
