Let them be Auntie: Claiming and Retaining a Gender-diverse Métis Auntiehood

Abstract

For many Métis people, having aunties to go to for advice, support, and mentorship is essential to maintaining well-being and community and kinship belonging. From our positioning as Two-Spirit and gender-diverse Metis aunties (and sometimes uncles) we interrogate whether aunties are always she, and what inclusion of diverse ways of auntying can provide our communities. Through the lens of play, permeability and mamâhtawisiwin (wonder), we argue for an expansive understanding of auntiehood, who can be an auntie, and the significant roles we play in the lives of relatives and community.