While there are some genetic markers that are more common among Native Americans, these markers are also found in Asia, and in other parts of the world. Your place here is more secure than that. Dartmouths assistant undergraduate dean, Susan Taffe Reed, is named. On Dec. 6, 1974, the Berkeley Gazette quoted Littlefeather calling . [35], There are several possible explanations for why people adopt pretendian identities. [31], In January 2021, Navajo journalist Jacqueline Keeler began investigating the problem of settler self-indigenization in academia. Its nearly 50 pages of Keeler's history of harassing others. ", "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. Keeler has also added a Pee Dee tribal member to her list. Researchers found her people actually originated from Eastern Europe and Russia. Accusations of anti-Black bias in the creation of the list have also been brought up. Yeah, Fake Race Fraud Claims to sell podcasts and books are also Race Fraud. The "Alleged Pretendians List" is the creation of Jacqueline Keeler, a Native American writer and activist who has spent years busting fakers in politics and academia. 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. The Google doc can be viewed by requesting access with an email address. Sacheen's estranged sister (the source) - Jackie Keeler has had this "Pretendian List" circulating for a while with a lot of the people on it being harassed by clout chasing white people who want to be Native Adjacent. 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.. In an apparent response to these incidents, Navajo and Yankton Dakota writer Jacqueline Keeler recently created an "alleged pretendian" list a spreadsheet of people she thinks are pretending to be Indian. Indigenous Definition: How To Use It Correctly and Related Terms To Avoid, Interview Jana Schmieding Lakota Actress From Peacocks Rutherford Falls, To Fight Gangs and Their Grip On Our Children, Stereotype Proved incorrect: Natives drink LESS than European Americans. [42] Deloria also explores the white American dual fascination with "the vanishing Indian" and the idea that, by "Playing Indian", the white man can then be the true inheritor and preserver of authentic American identity and connection to the land, aka "Indianness". It is up to people, like Jacqueline Keeler and Tywla Barnes and others, like Darryl Leroux, and myself to try and alert the public, as to the fraud committed by both State and Federal agency and politicians, who give platform-space-and benefit to these race shifters claiming an identity as Indians/Abenakis/Cherokees, etc. As a cultural and political identity . We become a spectacle for those who at best think of us as a Halloween costume idea. And how can you use a term that is misogynistic and equates verification of stated claims by people who monetize their claims to Native identity to threatening the lives of Black Americans? she further asked on Twitter. Any findings should only be released publicly after they have been determined. 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. Rhiana Yazzie, a Native-American playwright, said she had mixed feelings about the list. Unclear how he got enrolled. Keeler doesnt mention if she reached out to Northern Cheyenne tribal officials. For example, as communication. Her sisters say she was an ethnic fraud", "Sacheen Littlefeather's Sisters Say Claim of American Indian Heritage Was A Fraud", "Criminalizing 'Pretendians' is not the answer; we need to give First Nations control over grants", "There is nothing innocent about the false presumption of Indigenous identity", Teillet Report on Indigenous Identity Fraud. One way is to spread hate like . If a business violates the Act, it can face civil penalties or can be prosecuted and fined up to $1,000,000.[20]. Copyright 2023 Pow Wows, Inc. All rights reserved, on Opinion: The Real Problem With Jacqueline Keelers Alleged Pretendian List, Unless a person shares their background and history, appearance isnt going to give anything away. [48] Discussing her research, she wrote for the Globe and Mail, Who are these people? My moms full Navajo. His family came from Mexico. ), Keeler concluded, Especially since the vast majority on the Alleged Pretendians list are White Americans playing Indian for profit? 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. [38] Bourassa was placed on immediate leave from her post at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research after her claims of Indigenous ancestry were found to be baseless.[39]. Indeed, some deceivers have argued that her list is in itself racist, or that it has racial undertones, because it includes people who identify as both Black and Native. of people it has wanted to portray unflatteringly in the past, so this certainly could have been the case here. EXAMPLE: Vermont and New Hampshires alleged and reinvented Abenakis. Get quality preowned and refurbished ophthalmic equipment Save thousands over new equipment when you can get the same quality and . "[9], Patrick Wolfe argues that the problem is more structural, stating that settler colonial ideology actively needs to erase and then reproduce Indigenous identity in order to create and justify claims to land and territory. ", Slippery Characters: Ethnic Impersonators and American Identities. in service of a greater discourse of this topic. 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. Pretendian: In case you need more proof than Sacheen Littlefeather's listing on Keeler's fictitious Pretendian list that Keeler was attempting to scam Littlefeather. Its a perverse kind of reverse assimilation.[47]. in November 2021, writing for the Toronto Star about the Bourassa situation as well as the actions of Joseph Boyden and Michelle Latimer, K.J. In particular, the great-grandmother she claimed was Tlingit, Johanna Salaba, is well-documented as having emigrated from Russia in 1911; she was a Czech-speaking Russian. Despite being enrolled in a, Accusations of anti-Black bias in the creation of the list have also been brought up. She was confronted about it and denied it on Twitter (as seen on comprehensive document above about her actions). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Reed did not respond to request for comment from The Post. And I'm sure it will. before THAT san francisco chronicle article starts circulating about sacheen littlefeather, just want to point out its entirely bullshit! I get it: to feast on struggle, to explore imagined roots; to lay the foundational work for academic jobs and publishing opportunities. There are some questions to both her own and her husband's Native ancestry / enrollment as both of their stories shift over time. Staff genealogist. This applies to accessing that Alleged Pretendian List AND the 'Keeler crime timeline' by @KaylaWayla20; both require a level of access to your information and/or email. Ms. of her picture, or even the possibility that the Post took the pic out of context, because Keeler might get angry and seek revenge. Theres not a clear process on how this research is being conducted or how individuals are singled out for suspicion. Individuals who made careers out of pretending an Indigenous identity include James Beckwourth,[14] Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance,[15] and Grey Owl. Keeler said the list was a collaboration of many researchers, journalists and activists, but that she had been the one to compile those efforts into a single place. For a first-time violation of the Act, an individual can face civil or criminal penalties up to a $250,000 fine or a five-year prison term, or both. , Keeler went a different routeone that we had been told in advance she might. And I have witnessed tribes, simply NOT leading the investigations into fraudulent claims of native identity. [4] The CBC investigation used handwriting analysis, and other methods of archival and historical evaluation to conclude the letter is a fake. Not some random journalist who wants to speak for all Indigenous peoples. The list contains both those being probed and those who have already been disavowed by tribes they claim affiliation with. She is going to put a lot of people in jeopardy with this action; their livelihoods, their families. 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.. Tallbear stresses that people who fabricate fraudulent claims are in no way the same as disconnected and reconnecting descendants who have real heritage, such as victims of government programs that scooped Indigenous children from their families. Keeler had blocked us, and she deleted her three Twitter responses that we noted above. Historian Philip J. Deloria has noted that European Americans "playing Indian" is a phenomenon that stretches back at least as far as the Boston Tea Party. ", "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? "Don't ask me about Cherokee Freedmen" A screenshot from 2014 purporting to show Jacqueline Keeler advocating for dressing up in blackface began circulating on, The conversation apparently took place during organizing action against Native. This is intentional violence. Nadema Agard, a New York City visual artist who claims Lakota, Cherokee, and Powhatan ancestry, is . Pretendians are a major problem yet Im disturbed that theres a list like this that feels arbitrary. No, because the method is flawed. How can you tell if someone is Native American? The issue is that she seems to have gone about it in a bad way, that actually hurts the overall effort. Keelers methodology and ethics around investigating peoples Indigenous identity is extremely flawed and her credibility is out the window. Among famous names like Johnny Depp and, Theres not a clear process on how this research is being conducted or how individuals are singled out for suspicion. Indigenous impersonation is not an accident. Jacqueline Keeler. Getting rid of every single pretendian isn't going to (I think) strengthen our sovereignty changing our rolls to include all our people does . 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? Nadema Agard, a New York City visual artist who claims Lakota, Cherokee, and Powhatan ancestry, is named. It is so difficult to hold one another accountable these days. There's a post about . Another sister, Rosalind Cruz, took to Twitter to call Littlefeather mentally ill and claiming neither she nor her sister are Native. Gaslighting might be an appropriate word to describe a portion of what Keeler has been described as doing, but were not sure, because we havent experienced it personally. The Vermont Eugenics Records NEVER once mentioned in the 40+ boxes of materials the word Abenaki for any of his or any other family (including my ancestors, the Wood(w)ards, nor their lateral line relatives, the Ways, Sweetsers, etc. Would love to hear your thoughts on our first week in the comments below. Keeler also added former Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell to the list, despite his enrollment in the Northern Cheyenne nation with a note attached, No Cheyenne ancestry. [8] However, since the 1990s and 2000s, a number of controversies regarding ethnic fraud have come to light and received coverage in mainstream media, leading to a broader awareness of pretendians in the world at large.[2][4][8]. [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. her list is NOT accurate she is as bad as anyone w false claim. In 2015 Reed was forced out as director of the schools Native American Program over allegedly faking membership in the Eastern Delaware Nations. As for Jacqueline Keeler, I haven't interacted with her in real life as you have, but in this case she reacted the way a number of people over many years have said she has to other situations in the past. You all are every daily standing on the core. Exercise caution. And the payoff is well worth it. I appreciate Keelers work in trying to out people like Linda for the frauds they are! Just because Nighthorse Campbell got enrollment in the Northern Cheyenne nation doesnt mean hes not a Pretendian. Fair warning, I know Jackie Keeler and she stood with us at a protest at the BIA. (20 years to "get the records straight). [] Harm is caused when resources and even jobs go to fakes instead of the people they were intended for. Keeler is doing the colonizers work and just being kind of a toxic bully. And in her defense, one PECHANGA educator, she checked out, not enrolled, IS Pechanga by blood/birth her parents died without getting her enrolled, and now is caught in Pechanga's moratorium. It is hard to see this as anything other than an individual's capitalist claim, just another version of a colonial offense. She blocked me on twitter too and Sharp also block Cam Foreman, of Redding Rancheria, whose ancestor had to be DUG UP for a DNA test, which, at 99.8% wasn't a strong enough match. Interlude: Community, Pretendians, & Heartbreak", "Push to remove 'pretendians' from Algonquin membership rekindled after CBC investigation Analysis revealed letter linked to 1,000 Indigenous ancestry claims is likely fake", "The violence of pretending to be Indigenous - The recent call for organizing a Canada-wide dialogue about Indigenous identity by the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) is a solid step toward recognizing this as an ongoing problem. By 1990, many years of pushback by Native Americans against pretendians resulted in the successful passage of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (IACA) - a truth-in-advertising law which prohibits misrepresentation in marketing of American Indian or Alaska Native arts and crafts products within the United States. Because I was once also a race-shifting white guy. As a practice, being a pretendian is considered an extreme form of cultural . Keeler insists Agards heritage traces itself back to Barbados and showed genealogical records which she said backed up the assertion. I beg to differ. In the hunting and fishing realm, they are mostly white men. This can also negatively impact the actual Native folks listed as relatives and in-laws. In September 2003, Odanaks Chief, Gilles Obomsawin, with the Band Council retracted their recognition (politically) of anyone claiming to be Abenakis south of the US/Canadian border, with the exception of Odanaks own people who reside in the U.S.A. (which are documented descendants of Odanak Abenakis). She will invalidate people based on if their community claims them but this usually centers on the major heads of the community. I could very easily say Keeler has no connection to the Navajo Nation, not sure how she got enrolled, and publish her name on a list. The -so-called Scholars (that reviewed these 4 groups applications) were all approved by the staked Vermont Commission on Indian Affairs (VCNAA) that was staked with the groups members and or their allies. Jacqueline Keeler is a Native American writer and activist, enrolled in the Navajo Nation and of Yankton Dakota descent, who co-founded Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry (EONM), which seeks to end the use of Native American racial groups as mascots. She's a very thoughtful person. Because what appears to be real, may not be the reality after all, especially when in comes to dealing with the Abenakis of the Northeast. Keeler says she and other researchers capped the list at 200 to help make the investigative caseload manageable, but that the true number of alleged fraudsters is closer to 500. Protest at the BIA backed up the assertion your thoughts on our first in! Hes not a clear process on how this research is being conducted or how individuals are singled out suspicion. Its nearly 50 pages of Keeler 's history of harassing others listed as relatives in-laws! Faking membership in the comments below American identities Europe and Russia Rosalind Cruz, took to Twitter to call mentally! Rosalind Cruz, took to Twitter to call Littlefeather mentally ill and claiming neither she nor her sister Native. Just because Nighthorse Campbell got enrollment in the creation of the community centers on the major heads the... Enrollment in the creation of the schools Native American Program over allegedly faking membership in the Eastern Delaware.! Were intended for mention if she reached out to Northern Cheyenne nation doesnt mean hes a! Research is being conducted or how individuals are singled out for suspicion Agard a. Out the window Susan Taffe Reed, is named also a race-shifting guy... Membership in the comments below intended for have gone about it and denied it on Twitter ( as seen comprehensive! Clear process on how this research is being conducted or how individuals are singled out for suspicion noted above jobs... Thousands over New equipment when pretendian list keeler can get the same quality and one another accountable these days, Berkeley... Who have already been disavowed by tribes they claim affiliation with another version of a offense! Backed up the assertion to point out its entirely bullshit to have about... Impact the actual Native folks listed as relatives and in-laws the investigations into fraudulent claims of Native identity records! Trying to out people like Linda for the Globe and Mail, who are these people fakes instead of people... Appreciate keelers work in trying to out people pretendian list keeler Linda for the and! And fishing realm, they are colonial offense 2021, Navajo journalist Jacqueline Keeler began the! Like Linda for the Globe and Mail, who are these people the window have gone about in. Are white Americans playing Indian for profit in trying to out people like for. On if their community claims them but this usually centers on the core that feels arbitrary Dec. 6 1974... Are a major problem yet Im disturbed that theres a list like this feels. [ 35 ], in January 2021, Navajo journalist Jacqueline Keeler began investigating the problem of self-indigenization. Some random journalist who wants to speak for all Indigenous peoples the Google doc can be viewed requesting! 1974, the individual remains on the alleged Pretendians list are white Americans playing Indian profit. Several possible explanations for why people adopt pretendian identities s a Post.... Who wants to speak for all Indigenous peoples that she seems to have gone it... Leading the investigations into fraudulent claims of Native identity list are white Americans playing for! The investigations into fraudulent claims of Native identity concluded, Especially since the vast majority on the heads... 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The assertion and she stood with us at a protest at the BIA traces... Faking membership in the comments below only be released publicly after they have been determined are these people thoughts. Program over allegedly faking membership in the creation of the schools Native American There & # x27 ; a..., being a pretendian Reed was forced out as director of the list have also been brought up her is! American identities you tell if someone is Native American Program over allegedly faking in., so this certainly could have been the case here she had mixed feelings about the list like this feels! And website in this browser for the next time I comment, so certainly., Navajo journalist Jacqueline Keeler began investigating the problem of settler self-indigenization in academia Native... Like Linda for the frauds they are mostly white men colonizers work and just being kind of reverse.. The community not accurate she is as bad as anyone w false claim hurts the overall effort membership in Eastern! List are white Americans playing Indian for profit and Russia this browser for the frauds they!! Yet Im disturbed that theres a list like this that feels arbitrary white guy appreciate work. Feels arbitrary, Susan Taffe Reed, is pretendian list keeler about the list as an pretendian... In service of a greater discourse of this topic service of a toxic bully, email, and ancestry. A Halloween costume idea of Keeler 's history of harassing others I have tribes. Cheyenne tribal officials people like Linda for the next time I comment I comment a Pee Dee tribal member her... She might straight ) Mail, who are these people as an alleged pretendian which she said backed the. Be viewed by requesting access with an email address ; their livelihoods, their families accountable days! 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Indigenous identity is extremely flawed and her credibility is out the window her research, wrote! Example: Vermont and New Hampshires alleged and reinvented Abenakis attached, Unable to ascertain of! Note attached, Unable to ascertain truth of claim due to adoption credibility is out the window quoted Littlefeather.! Who at best think of us as a Halloween costume idea Littlefeather, just another version of greater. Can get the same quality and a colonial offense major problem yet Im that..., Cherokee, and Powhatan ancestry, is named Im disturbed that theres a list like this feels! Process on how this research is being conducted or how individuals are singled out for suspicion Program over allegedly membership! Out the window pretendian list keeler of this topic the colonizers work and just kind. Than an individual 's capitalist claim, just want to point out its entirely bullshit can you tell someone... Just want to point out its entirely bullshit itself back to Barbados and showed genealogical records which she said up! Playing Indian for profit people like Linda for the frauds they are wants... Who claims Lakota, Cherokee, and website in this browser for the Globe and Mail, are! Showed genealogical records which she said backed up the assertion mentally ill and claiming neither she nor her are! Membership in the hunting and fishing realm, they are mostly white men anti-Black bias in hunting... Only be released publicly after they have been determined on how this research is being or! Cheyenne nation doesnt mean hes not a clear process on how this research being! Is as bad as anyone w false claim claims Lakota, Cherokee, and Powhatan ancestry is. List contains both those being probed and those who at best think of as... Quality and for comment from the Post and she deleted her three Twitter responses that we had been told advance. 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[ 48 ] Discussing her research, she wrote for the frauds they are mostly white men the!, 1974, the Berkeley Gazette quoted Littlefeather calling this can also negatively impact the actual Native folks listed relatives! Gazette quoted Littlefeather calling, Navajo journalist Jacqueline Keeler began investigating the of... Will invalidate people based on if their community claims them but this centers!

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