ep. 177: The ‘Pretendian’ Long Con
What happens when someone who built their career on being Indigenous turns out to be ... a white lady? Writer Michelle Cyca shares how she came face to face with Indigenous identity fraud, why academia and the arts have a 'Pretendian' problem and what these scams means for Indigenous rights and sovereignty.
guest:
Michelle Cyca: website | Twitter | The Curious Case of Gina Adams: A ‘Pretendian’ Investigation
learn more:
Becoming Indian: The Struggle Over Cherokee Identity in the Twenty-First Century (Circe Sturm)
Native American DNA: Tribal Belonging and the False Promise of Genetic Science (Kim TallBear)
Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s (Connie Walker)
sources:
Agoyo, Acee. Controversial scholar walks away from Native food organizations. Indianz. Oct 27, 2022.
Alden, Charlotte. Dr. Amie Wolf fired, sends threatening email amid Indigenous heritage scrutiny. The Ubyssey. Feb 17, 2021.
Britten, Liam. UBC Regrets its handling of Turpel-Lafond ancestry concerns. CBC. Jan 18, 2023.
Chappell, Robert. Madison Indigenous arts leader, activist revealed as white. Madison365. Jan 3, 2023.
Cyca, Michelle. The Curious Case of Gina Adams: A ‘Pretendian’ Investigation. Macleans. Sep 6, 2022.
Deer, Ka’nhehsí:io and Barrera, Jorge. Award-winning filmmaker Michelle Latimer's Indigenous identity under scrutiny. CBC. Dec 17, 2020.
Keeler, Jacqueline. Sacheen Littlefeather was a Native icon. Her sisters say she was an ethnic fraud. San Francisco Chronicle. Oct 22, 2022.
Leo, Geoff. Carrie Bourassa, who claimed to be Indigenous without evidence, has resigned from U of Sask. CBC. Jun 1, 2022.
Solomon, Akiba. Native Feminism, White Women Passing and the Sad Tale of Andrea Smith. Colorlines. Jul 7, 2015.
TallBear, Kim. Native ‘Identity Fraud is not Distraction, but the Final Indian Bounty. Unsettle. Mar 27, 2022.
Viren, Sarah. The Native Scholar Who Wasn’t. The New York Times Magazine. May 25, 2021.
Yellowhorse Kesler, Sam. The race-shifting of ‘Pretendians’. NPR. Feb 23, 2022.
