For those rejected from Qalipu First Nation, a court challenge is about more than a status card

A long-awaited court challenge against criteria for membership in Qalipu First Nation began this week, and for dozens of people who came to watch the proceedings in St. John's, the outcome of the case represents more than a status card.

On Thursday, Pauline Tessier, co-founder of the Friends of Qalipu Advocacy Association, said the trial is about a second chance at recognition for herself and thousands of others.

"It's my grandmother, my grandfather, it's their heritage that I'm trying to protect and my own," Tessier said.

The Friends of Qalipu Advocacy Association is challenging a 2013 supplemental agreement between the federal government and the Federation of Newfoundland Indians, the organization that shepherded the formation of Qalipu First Nation.

The trial began with testimony from former FNI general manager Annie Randell, who was heavily involved in the creation of Qalipu First Nation.

"We never imagined the number of applications we received," she said.

In 2008, officials expected about 20,000 people to apply. Ultimately, the FNI received more than 104,000 applications.

Randell saidtruckloads of applications began arriving at the FNI office;staff hadto stack boxes of them in hallways and entrances. She said it was clear the small enrolment committee wouldn't be able to process them.

"Something had to be done," she said.

In order to limit membership in the band,the federal government and the FNI agreed tointroducea complex point system for applicants who didn't reside in one of 67 approved Mi'kmaw communities.

A birthright

In the end, only 18,044 applications were approved. Thousands of founding members of Qalipu First Nation had their status revoked.

One of those founding members was Margaret Cranford, who gained Indian status upon the formation of Qalipu First Nation in 2008 only to lose it just a few years later due to the supplemental agreement.

"You get that little bit of recognition that we actually exist, only to have it torn away from you,"she said.

Cranford, a traditionalknowledge keeper, led a smudging ceremony outside the courthouse Monday.

Cranford said she wants the outcome of the trial to right a wrong.

"That's what this is all about: magnifying the injustice that has always happened to our people throughout the narrative of history and to try to balance that injustice or at least bring attention to it," she said.

For her, membership in Qalipu First Nation is not about the benefits that come with Indian Status, she said it's about recognition of her identity.

"That is my inherent birthright," she said.

A house divided

When acceptance and rejection letters were mailed out, some families found themselves divided; even some siblings received differing results.

Jennifer Le Roux, one of the six plaintiffs, testified that she was rejected from the band while her identical twin sister was accepted.

"The question is: why am I less than her? Why is she fully recognized and I am not?" she said.

Le Roux lives in Hamilton with her wife and son, but grew up spending summers in Flat Bay Brook with her family. She was accepted into Qalipu First Nation as a founding member.

"It meant a lot to me. We were raised in the culture of that, you know? Fishing and hunting, and we wanted to be recognized and be proud of that heritage," she said.

After being rejected by the band, Le Roux maintained Indian status because of her father, but her children no longer qualify; status will end with her.

"We're going through another, essentially, cultural genocide. That's what it feels like," she said.

Mitchell Connolly said his brother was accepted into the band the day he found out his founding membership had been revoked.

"You've got to see that there's something wrong with that," he said.

Connolly, currently living in Thunder Bay, travelled to St. John's to support the Friends of Qalipu.

"Many people were torn apart, many families were torn apart. And they're still torn apart today," he said.

The Supreme Court has set aside three weeks for the trial.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador