I'll just hold off my judgment till more comes out. In an apparent response to these incidents, Navajo and Yankton Dakota writer Jacqueline Keeler recently created an alleged pretendian lista spreadsheet of people she thinks are pretending to be Indian. Now, a piece in the San Francisco Chronicle argues that Littlefeather, who died earlier this month, was a fraud. What the heck? Keeler replied on Twitter, referencing, . ", "Why Your DNA Results Didn't Show Your Native American Ancestry", "Native Americans fear potential exploitation of their DNA", "DNA tests stand on shaky ground to define Native American identity", "How 'pretendians' undermine the rights of Indigenous people - We must guard against harmful public discourse about Native identity as much as we guard against harmful policy", "Across North America, academics have allegedly manufactured indigenous identity for personal, professional and financial gain", "The Curious Case of Gina Adams: A "Pretendian" investigation - She was hired by Emily Carr University in an effort to recruit Indigenous faculty. After the whole New York Times/Claudia Lawrence debacle, I was fed up and tired of tiptoeing around frauds because of the power they wield. Written by author Jacqueline Keeler, whose running "Alleged Pretendians" list documents cases of Native American ethnic fraud, the article cites two of Littlefeather's sisters who say that their sibling lied about her heritage. The Academy apologized to Littlefeather in a letter reported in April. The issue is that she seems to have gone about it in a bad way, that actually hurts the overall effort. The Google doc can be viewed by requesting access with an email address. ", "I Knew Rachel Dolezal Back When She Was Indigenous", The Native roots of the bizarre Rachel Dolezal drama, "Race of Rachel Dolezal, head of Spokane NAACP, comes under question", "Read the NAACP's Full Statement on Rachel Dolezal", "Dartmouth Removes New Native American Head Amid Ethnicity Questions: Tribes accused Susan Taffe Reed of misrepresenting herself as American Indian", "Dartmouth criticized for Native American Studies hire", "Four Words for Andrea Smith: 'I'm Not an Indian', "Tribes Blast 'Wannabe' Native American Professor", "Rachel Dolezal Outs Andrea Smith Again; Will Anybody Listen This Time? [43], Academics Kim TallBear (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate), Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville), Robert Jago (Kwantlen First Nation), Rowland Robinson (Menominee), as well as journalist Jacqueline Keeler (Navajo Nation) and attorney Jean Teillet (great-grandniece of Louis Riel) also name white supremacy, in addition to ongoing settler colonialism, as core factors in the phenomenon. nativerpt: " nativerpt: " Everyone wants to be Native until it's time to be Native. The list contains both those being probed and those who have already been disavowed by tribes they claim affiliation with. We were written off, no more dialogue to be had, and, were apparently just plain stupid, not worthy of a response (no matter that we repeat, again, that Fox News. [41] Academic Dina Gilio-Whitaker wrote that the truth about community leaders is "crucial", even if it means losing a "hero", and that the work Littlefeather did is still valuable, but there is a need to be honest about the harm done by pretendians, especially by those who manage to fool so many people that they become iconic:[35], The stereotype Littlefeather embodied depended on non-Native people not knowing what they were looking at, or knowing what constitutes legitimate American Indian identity. I know how you feel Rob, we have been pushing Fawn Sharp, President of the National Congress of American Indians on my Original Pechanga blog for years. It can really feel like a damned if you do damned if you dont situation if you dont say youre Native are you a pretendiwhite? Please use you the brain Creator gave you and have more thoughtful contributions to this discourse. Keeler has a reputation for doing this kind of thing. Exercise caution. (DISCLAIMER: this all relates to us not the whyte supremist racists out there) Meanwhile in Indian country From keeler's pretendian list, Kim tallbear alleged support of list, Sephora, sarian fox, to dynami thomas, myself (but on a smaller scale), all being held accountable for various reasons. "Is Ward Churchill the New Michael Bellesiles? Would love to hear your thoughts on our first week in the comments below. I take issue with While faking Indigenous American identity for positions of prestige is a problem, sovereign tribes and nations should be leading investigations into citizenship claims. ", "Open Letter from Indigenous Women Scholars Regarding Discussions of Andrea Smith", "Rescind Turpel-Lafond's honorary degrees or we'll return ours, say high-profile Indigenous women", "What's So Hard About Casting Indian Actors in Indian Roles? Her enemies among whom we do not consider ourselves, but she might think otherwise based on what youll read below say she tends to serve up disordered logic on a number of topics. Keelers list is controversial within native communities as well. Happy Friday, Wiredians (see what we did there?). Im investigating actual ethnic fraud which harms Native people. Everyone on this list has made public claims through interviews, in books authored, documentaries, and even in Congressional testimony. Believe it or not, some non-Indian folks, not steeped in this stuff, dont know what a Pretendian, a Defendian, a Karendian and/or a Kendian are. Most Americans do not know the reality of US and State government-funded white scalp hunters, and what it meant to people who lost nine out of 10 relatives AND their land in the 1800s (and continuing through most of the 1900s). The State politicians and the groups sought out the Indian Arts and Crafts Act people to guide the groups recognition bill S.222 in just the right way, to pass the mustard, yet no Vermont politicians ever objectively validated these people as being descendants of the Abenakis. It was a list that was to be researched by. [36], On September 13, 2021, the CBC News reported on their ongoing investigation into a "mysterious letter", dated 1845 (but never seen before 2011[37]) that is now believed to be a forgery. Unless a person shares their background and history, appearance isnt going to give anything away. This is intentional violence. Keeler included places of employment, LinkedIn profiles and, in some cases, the names of their actual Native relatives or in-laws. Back in my youth, we called them wannabes; nowadays, they are referred to as pretendians or race-shifters. To people like Bourassa, we are indeed a costume, except one you get to wear all year long and benefit from professionally because it checks that box that was created to even-out the field that cannot ever be evened out just by a box. The pretendians will be exposed by fellow indigenous people or God. Under one name is a note attached, Unable to ascertain truth of claim due to adoption. Yet, the individual remains on the list as an alleged pretendian.. Making their data available opens them up to possible harassment or worse. If a business violates the Act, it can face civil penalties or can be prosecuted and fined up to $1,000,000.[20]. Another sister, Rosalind Cruz, took to Twitter to call Littlefeather mentally ill and claiming neither she nor her sister are Native. They are fully fed , how can they be fed up enough to cut off communication? Now I've known about Marie Cruz (stage name Sacheen Littlefeather) and her false claims to Apache/Yaqui ancestry for a while now, thanks to Jacqueline Keeler's Pretendian list.But it's only in the last couple of days that it's become wider knowledge, thanks to an article Keeler penned for the San Francisco Chronicle.. Sacheen Littlefeather (Native American actress Maria Cruz) holds a written statement from actor Marlon Brando refusing his Best Actor Oscar on stage at the Academy Awards on March 27, 1973 in Los. This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. My grandparents didnt even speak English! Why aren't either public to allow for observation and/or scrutiny without the need for data collection? Jacqueline Keeler, a Native American writer and activist, created the list to expose the fakers. Keeler said she was inspired to create the document this year in response to a New York Times op-ed by Claudia Lawrence a freelance journalist who has since been accused of being a Pretendian. Any findings should only be released publicly after they have been determined. Just because Nighthorse Campbell got enrollment in the Northern Cheyenne nation doesnt mean hes not a Pretendian. "Jeff Bezos is awful! of people it has wanted to portray unflatteringly in the past, so this certainly could have been the case here. Dartmouths assistant undergraduate dean, Susan Taffe Reed, is named. While Indigenous communities have always self-policed and spread word of frauds, mainstream media and arts communities were often unaware, or did not act upon this information, until more recent decades. It has meant, more than anything, a feeling of utter powerlessness within the structures of strong mainstream institutions. Here's an article from May 2021 on Keeler's history of faulty reporting, including naming actual Natives to her Pretendian list. A list of allegedly fake Native Americans has begun circulating in tribal and academic circles, accusing 195 people of falsely claiming an Indian identity for personal gain. So called Indianness is good enough for every purpose. Not some random journalist who wants to speak for all Indigenous peoples. She was 75. Adopt and donot adopt. They are also all monetizing their claims. They also just blatantly lie. In October 2022, Teillet published the report, Indigenous Identity Fraud, for the University of Saskatchewan. Arer you saying your uncle wouldnt have married her if she werent a Fauxcahontas? People do it to get something they want to stop Indigenous people from closing a land claim, to access hunting and fishing rights, or to gain access to jobs. [22][23][24] Attempts by non-Natives to racialize Indigenous identity by DNA tests have been seen by Indigenous people as insensitive at best, often racist, politically and financially motivated, and dangerous to the survival of Indigenous cultures. "Well where's the proof" Here. Yeah, Fake Race Fraud Claims to sell podcasts and books are also Race Fraud. ", "Yellowstone Star Kelsey Asbille Grows Into Her Cherokee Identity Onscreen", "Kelsey Chow speaks Chinese for LA Teen Festival", "Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Says Wind River and Yellowstone Actress is Not Enrolled nor Descended from Tribe", "Eurasian Actress Exposed After Falsely Claiming She Was Part Native American Over Film Role", "Iron Eyes Cody, 94, an Actor And Tearful Anti-Littering Icon", "Native Son: After a Career as Hollywood's Noble Indian Hero, Iron Eyes Cody is Found to Have an Unexpected Heritage", "Disney Exploiting Confusion About Whether Depp Has Indian Blood", "Sonny Skyhawk on Johnny Depp, Disney, Indian Stereotypes and White Film Indians", "Johnny Depp's History of Racism and Broken Promises to Native Americans", "Why I Question Joseph Boyden's Indigenous Ancestry", "Author Joseph Boyden's shape-shifting Indigenous identity", "Identity of Indian Memoirist is Disputed", "Agent Confirms Author Nasdijj and Gay-Erotica Writer Timothy Barrus Are Same Person", "Publisher stops issuing memoirs by disputed author", Stanisaw Supatowicz. 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