Pretendian (

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of ''pretend'' and ''Indian'') is a

pejorative A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hosti ...

colloquialism Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

describing a person who has falsely claimed Indigenous identity by professing to be a

citizen Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality ...

of a Native American or First Nation

tribal nation In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...

, or to be descended from Native American or First Nation ancestors. A subset of this term is pretenduit (

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of ''pretend'' and ''

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

'') to describe the co-opting of Inuit heritage and culture. As a practice, being a pretendian is considered an extreme form of

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or cultural identity, identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. Such a controversy typically ari ...

, especially if that individual then asserts that they can represent, and speak for, communities from which they do not originate. The practice has sometimes been called Indigenous identity fraud, ethnic fraud, and race shifting. Early false claims to native identity, often called " playing Indian", go back at least as far as the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a seminal American protest, political and Mercantilism, mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, during the American Revolution. Initiated by Sons of Liberty activists in Boston in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colo ...

. There was a rise in pretendians after the 1960s for a number of reasons, such as the reestablishment of

tribal sovereignty The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

following the era of

Indian termination policy Indian termination describes United States policies relating to Native Americans from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. It was shaped by a series of laws and practices with the intent of assimilating Native Americans into mainstream American soci ...

, the media coverage of the

Occupation of Alcatraz The Occupation of Alcatraz (November 20, 1969 – June 11, 1971) was a 19-month long occupation of Alcatraz Island and its prison complex, then classified as abandoned surplus federal land, by 89 American Indians and their supporters. The occ ...

and the

Wounded Knee Occupation The Wounded Knee Occupation, also known as Second Wounded Knee, began on February 27, 1973, when approximately 200 Oglala Lakota (sometimes referred to as Oglala Sioux) and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied the ...

, and the formation of

Native American studies Native American studies (also known as American Indian, Indigenous American, Aboriginal, Native, or First Nations studies) is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues, spirituality, sociology and co ...

as a distinct form of

area studies Area studies, also known as regional studies, is an interdisciplinary field of research and scholarship pertaining to particular geographical, national/ federal, or cultural regions. The term exists primarily as a general description for what a ...

which led to the establishment of publishing programs and university departments specifically for or about Native American culture. At the same time,

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

and

New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...

subcultures marketed Native cultures as accessible, spiritual, and as a form of resistance to mainstream culture, leading to the rise of the

plastic shaman Plastic shamans, or plastic medicine people,Hagan, Helene E ''Sonoma Free County Press.'' Accessed 31 Jan 2013. is a pejorative colloquialism applied to individuals who attempt to pass themselves off as shamans, holy people, or other traditional ...

or "culture vulture". 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 The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-644) is a truth-in-advertising law which prohibits misrepresentation in marketing of American Indian or Alaska Native arts and crafts products within the United States. It is illegal to offer or d ...

(IACA) a truth-in-advertising law which prohibits

misrepresentation In common law jurisdictions, a misrepresentation is a False statements of fact, false or misleading''Royal Mail Case, R v Kylsant''

931 Year 931 ( CMXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place North Africa * The Ummayad Caliphate of Córdoba invades and conquers the city of Ceuta, which was ruled by the Berber dynasty Banu I ...

Question of law, statement of fact made during negotiations by one party to another, the statement then in ...

in marketing of American Indian or

Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the I ...

arts and crafts products within the United States. Indian arts and crafts laws have also been enacted by some states and tribes. While native 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. 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.

History of false claims to Indigenous identity

Early claims

Historian Philip J. Deloria has noted that European Americans "playing Indian" is a phenomenon that stretches back at least as far as the

. In his 1998 book '' Playing Indian'', Deloria argues that white settlers have always played with stereotypical imagery of the peoples that were replaced during

colonization 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

, using these tropes to form a new national identity that can be seen as distinct from previous European identities. Examples of white societies who have played Indian include, according to Deloria, the

Improved Order of Red Men The Improved Order of Red Men is a List of civic, fraternal, service, and professional organizations, fraternal organization established in North America in 1834. It claims direct descent from the colonial era Sons of Liberty. Their rituals and ...

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

, and scouting societies like the

Order of the Arrow The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the honor society of Scouting America, composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Promise, Scout Oath and Scout Law, Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. It was founded as a camp fr ...

. Individuals who made careers out of pretending an Indigenous identity include James Beckwourth, Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance, and

Grey Owl Archibald Stansfeld Belaney (September 18, 1888April 13, 1938), commonly known as Grey Owl, was an English-Canadian popular writer, public speaker and conservationist. Born an Englishman, in the latter years of his life he passed as half-Indi ...

. The academic Joel W. Martin noted that "an astonishing number of southerners assert they have a grandmother or great-grandmother who was some kind of Cherokee, often a princess", and that such myths serve settler purposes in aligning

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the Geography of the United States, geography, History of the United States, history, Folklore of the United States, folklore, and Cultur ...

romance with southern regionalism and pride.

Post-1960s: Rise of pretendians in academia, arts, and political positions

The rise of pretendian identities post-1960s can be explained by a number of factors. The reestablishment and exercise of

among tribal nations (following the era of

) meant that many individuals raised away from tribal communities sought, and still seek, to reestablish their status as tribal citizens or to recover connections to tribal traditions. Other tribal citizens, who had been raised in

American Indian boarding schools American Indian boarding schools, also known more recently as American Indian residential schools, were established in the United States from the mid-17th to the early 20th centuries with a main primary objective of " civilizing" or assimila ...

under

genocidal Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" b ...

policies designed to erase their cultural identity, also revived tribal religious and cultural practices. At the same time, in the years following the

, the formation of

as a distinct form of

, and the awarding of the

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...

author

N. Scott Momaday Navarre Scotte Momaday (February 27, 1934–January 24, 2024) was a Kiowa and American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His novel ''House Made of Dawn'' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969 in literature, 1969, and ...

, publishing programs and university departments began to be established specifically for or about Native American culture. At the same time,

and

cultures marketed Native cultures as accessible, spiritual, and as a form of resistance to mainstream culture, leading to the rise of the

or "culture vulture". All of this added up to a culture that was not inclined to disbelieve self-identification, and a wider societal impulse to claim Indigeneity.

Elizabeth Cook-Lynn Elizabeth Cook-Lynn (born Elizabeth Irving, November 17, 1930 – July 5, 2023) was a Native American editor, essayist, poet, and novelist. She was considered to be outspoken in her views about Native American politics, particularly in regards t ...

. "Who Stole Native American Studies?" ''Wíčazo Ša Review'', Vol. 12, No. 1. (Spring, 1997), p. 23.

wrote of the influence of pretendians in American academia and political positions: By 1990, as noted in ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', many years of "significant pushback by Native Americans against so-called Pretendians or Pretend Indians" resulted in the successful passage of the

(IACA)a truth-in-advertising law which prohibits

misrepresentation In common law jurisdictions, a misrepresentation is a False statements of fact, false or misleading''Royal Mail Case, R v Kylsant''

Question of law, statement of fact made during negotiations by one party to another, the statement then in ...

in the marketing of American Indian or

s arts and crafts products within the United States. The IACA makes it illegal for non-Natives to offer or display for sale, or sell, any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian, Indian tribe, or

Indian arts Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including Indian painting, painting, sculpture in the Indian subcontinent, sculpture, Indian pottery, pottery, and textile arts such as Silk in the Indian subcontinent#Origin, woven silk. Geographic ...

and crafts organization. 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. If a business violates the act, it can face civil penalties or can be prosecuted and fined up to $1,000,000."The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990".
''US Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board.'' Retrieved May 24, 2009.

21st century: Contemporary controversies

United States Poet Laureate The poet laureate consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress, commonly referred to as the United States poet laureate, serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national consc ...

Joy Harjo ( Mvskoke) writes: While modern DNA testing can confirm some degree of Native American ancestry, as well as family relatedness, it is less able to indicate tribal belonging or Native American identity, which is based on culture as well as biology. Attempts by non-Natives to racialize Indigenous identity through DNA tests have been seen by some Indigenous people, such as Kim TallBear, as insensitive at best, though often racist, politically and financially motivated, and dangerous to the survival of Indigenous cultures. 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 recent decades. 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. In April 2018,

APTN National News ''APTN National News'' is a Canadian television national news program broadcast by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The program produces a single half hour of news each day, broadcasts at 6 and 11:30&nbs ...

in Canada investigated how pretendiansin the film industry and in real lifepromote "

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

, typecasting, and even, what is known as ' redface'." Rebecca Nagle (

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

) voiced a similar position in 2019, writing for ''

High Country News ''High Country News'' is a monthly independent magazine based in Paonia, Colorado, that covers environmental, social, and political issues in the Western United States. Syndicated stories from ''High Country News'' have appeared in ''The New Yor ...

'' that:

The "Alleged Pretendians List"

In January 2021,

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

journalist Jacqueline Keeler began investigating the problem of settler self-indigenization in academia. Working with other Natives in tribal enrollment departments, genealogists and historians, they began following up on the names many had been hearing for years in tribal circles were not actually Native, asking about current community connections as well as researching family histories "as far back as the 1600s" to see if they had any ancestors who were Native or had ever lived in a tribal community. This research resulted in the "Alleged Pretendians List", of about 200 public figures in academia and entertainment, which Keeler self-published as a Google spreadsheet in 2021. While some people have criticized her for "conducting a witch hunt", Native leaders interviewed by VOA, such as Chief Ben Barnes of the

Shawnee Tribe The Shawnee Tribe is a Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma. Formerly known as the Loyal Shawnee, they are one of three federally recognized Shawnee tribes. The others are the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe ...

, report Keeler has strong support in Native circles. Academic

Dina Gilio-Whitaker Dina Gilio-Whitaker is an American academic, journalist and author, who studies Native Americans in the United States, decolonization and environmental justice. She is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes. In 2019, she published '' As Lo ...

, who reviewed Keeler's documentation on Sacheen Littlefeather before it was published, wrote that in her opinion Keeler did solid research. Keeler has stressed that the list does not include private citizens who are "merely wannabes", but only those public figures who are monetizing and profiting from their claims to tribal identity and who claim to speak for Native American tribes. She says the list is the product of decades of Native peoples' efforts at accountability. Academic Kim TallBear writes that all those mentioned on the list are public figures who have profited from their alleged Indigenous status, that Keeler's and her team's list documents that the overwhelming number of those who benefit financially from pretendianism are white, and that these false claims relate to white supremacy and Indigenous erasure. 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. Skeptics of the "Alleged Pretendians List" have contested statements about its reliability and countered by questioning the methodology and motivations of Keeler, in one case releasing a signed statement via ''Last Real Indians'' accusing her of exploiting the issue of Indigenous fraud - which they acknowledged "had long been a problem in

Indian Country Indian country is any of the self-governing Native American or American Indian communities throughout the United States. Colloquially, this refers to lands governed by federally recognized tribes and state recognized tribes. The concept of tri ...

" - for her own personal agenda. Signees felt Keeler's methods were not an appropriate way to address the problem and instead argued Keeler was weaponizing " lateral violence, colonial trauma, and colonial recognition" against people she disagreed with or had prior disputes with. Keeler was also accused of promoting herself as a "self-appointed arbiter of Indian identity", with the statement eventually requesting that Keeler "respect the rights of every tribe, and urban inter-tribal communities to determine their own people, kin and citizenship". Lakota journalist Alexandra Watson wrote in "Who made the Pretendian?" for ''NtvTwt.com'' that an article she'd written was used for reference without her consent. Noting that she was not a genealogist and that the information she'd originally posted was publicly available, Watson felt her writing shouldn't be used as an endorsement nor support of the List. Watson later questioned, after discussing the history of Pretendians and lack of accountability they had beyond an apology in most cases, whether the List truly effected change in a society with "fake Natives being hired and passed off as Natives in Hollywood today no matter how many websites or how many Natives might speak up." She did not dismiss the need for Pretendians to be exposed - noting she and other Native writers and sites did so - but distinguished her methodology by noting "there is a lot of information to consider and reasons not to support the person" and felt that the process used to form the Alleged Pretendians List needed to be reconsidered and planned beyond merely listing people. Other journalists have echoed similar concerns about the "Alleged Pretendians List's" accuracy and effect on the sovereignty of tribes.

Northern Cheyenne The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation () is the federally recognized Northern Cheyenne tribe and a Plains tribe. The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation is reservation located in southeastern Montana, that is ...

journalist Angelina Newsom wrote in an op-ed for ''Powwows.com'' that Keeler had questioned the enrollment of the Native politician Ben Nighthorse Campbell and included him in her research, despite Campbell being a member of the federally-recognized tribe. Newsom stated that it was unclear whether Keeler "reached out to Northern Cheyenne tribal officials" before making the decision and that at the time of writing, Newsom stated Keeler had not removed Campbell's name from the list. Newsom accused Keeler of lacking proper documentation, possible bias, as well as using

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...

records in part of her research, and warned that the publishing of private information could also "negatively impact the actual Native folks listed as relatives and in-laws." Newsom argued in the closing of her article that tribes should be in charge of investigating citizenship claims, claiming that Keeler's method -which Newsom believed implicated people who were verifiably Native- wasn't "safe for Indian Country nor should it be the standard".

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

author Chris La Tray, a member of the Little Shell Tribe, expressed his own thoughts about the debate after reportedly gaining access to the list, in an article published on the online publication ''Culture Study''. Noting that he "felt greasy" after viewing it, La Tray mentioned it was unclear how individuals he recognized were selected, nor who had nominated them. La Tray cited the inclusion of Thomas King as an example of this: "Why is he here? Who said he's a pretendian? And where on this list is it detailed the steps made to put him here in the first place?" While La Tray stated that he respected Keeler's previous work and also felt the cause was needed, La Tray nonetheless considered the list to be "

McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...

ish bullshit". He stated that "throwing a list of names out there for people to eyeball and gossip" was unproductive, calling the process unsubstantiated. King has been accused of falsely representing himself as Cherokee by the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds through separate research.

Controversies in media

On September 13, 2021, the

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

reported on their ongoing investigation into a "mysterious letter", dated 1845 (but never seen before 2011) that is now believed to be a forgery. Based solely on the one ancestor listed in this letter, over 1,000 people were enrolled as

Algonquin people The Algonquin people are an Indigenous people who now live in Eastern Canada and parts of the United States. They speak the Algonquin language, which is part of the Algonquian language family. Culturally and linguistically, they are closely ...

, making them "potential beneficiaries of a massive pending land claim agreement involving almost $1 billion and more than 500 sq. kilometres of land". The CBC investigation used handwriting analysis, and other methods of archival and historical evaluation to conclude the letter is a fake. This has led to the federally recognized Pikwakanagan First Nation to renew efforts to remove these "pretendian" claimants from their membership. In a statement to CBC News, the chief and council of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation say that those they are seeking to remove "are fraudulently taking up Indigenous spaces in high academia and procurement opportunities". In October 2021, the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

published an investigation into the status of Canadian academic Carrie Bourassa, who works as an Indigenous health expert and has claimed

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...

and

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

status. Research into her claims indicated that her ancestry is wholly European. 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. In response, Bourassa admitted that she does not have status in the communities that she claimed but insisted that she does have some Indigenous ancestors and that she has hired other genealogists to search for them. 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. In November 2021, writing for the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' about the Bourassa situation as well as the actions of Joseph Boyden and Michelle Latimer, K. J. McCusker wrote: In October 2022, Macleans magazine published a detailed article that elaborated on Carrie Bourassa, in addition to a detailed look at Gina Adams. The article also discusses the questioned identities of Amie Wolf, Cheyanne Turions, and Michelle Latimer. In October 2022, actor and activist Sacheen Littlefeather died. Shortly thereafter her sisters spoke to

reporter Jacqueline Keeler and said that their family has no ties to the

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are an Indigenous people of Mexico and Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe, who speak the Yaqui language, a Uto-Aztecan language. Their primary homelands are in Río Yaqui valley in the no ...

tribes Sacheen had claimed. As Littlefeather had been a beloved activist, these reports were met with controversy, challenges, and attacks on Keeler, largely on social media. 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:

Motivating factors

There are several possible explanations for why people adopt pretendian identities.

Mnikȟówožu Lakota The Miniconjou (Lakota language, Lakota: Mnikowoju, Hokwoju – ‘Plants by the Water’) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American people constituting a subdivision of the Lakota people, who formerly inhabited an area in western ...

poet Trevino Brings Plenty writes: "To wear an underrepresented people's skin is enticing. I get it: to feast on struggle, to explore imagined roots; to lay the foundational work for academic jobs and publishing opportunities." Helen Lewis, wrote in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' that perhaps personal trauma from unrelated events in their lives, such as a difficult upbringing, may motivate hoaxers to desire to be publicly perceived as victims of oppressionto identify with those they see as victims rather than the perpetrators.

Patrick Wolfe Patrick Wolfe (1949 – 18 February 2016) was an English historian and scholar who lived and wrote in Australia. Born into an Irish Catholic and German Jewish family in Yorkshire, England, his works are credited with establishing the field of ...

argues that the problem is more structural, stating that

settler colonial Settler colonialism is a logic and structure of displacement by Settler, settlers, using colonial rule, over an environment for replacing it and its indigenous peoples with settlements and the society of the settlers. Settler colonialism is ...

ideology actively needs to erase and then reproduce Indigenous identity in order to create and justify claims to land and territory. 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". Academics Kim TallBear ( Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate),

( Colville), Rowland Robinson (

Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...

), as well as journalist Jacqueline Keeler (

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

) and attorney Jean Teillet (great-grandniece of

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis in Canada, Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of ...

) also name

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

, in addition to ongoing settler colonialism, as core factors in the phenomenon. In ''Settler Colonialism + Native Ghosts''"Community, Pretendians, & Heartbreak", Robinson posits that: In October 2022, Teillet published the report, ''Indigenous Identity Fraud'', for the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

. Discussing her research, she wrote for the ''

Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it fall ...

'':

Law and consequences

In Canada in 2024, Karima Manji and her twin daughters, a non-Indigenous family, were charged with defrauding the Nunavut government of over $150,000 by claiming Inuit identity to receive financial aid earmarked for Indigenous. Manji took full responsibility for the Inuit misrepresentation and was sentenced to three years in prison, while charges against her daughters were dropped; Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) has called this “unacceptable” since her daughters benefited from the fraud. Her daughters had earlier been dismissed from their jobs at law and engineering firms. Manji had previously been convicted in 2016 of defrauding the

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to co ...

charity of $800,000 and received a conditional sentence. In Canada in 2024, the government funding Tri-agency (including the

NSERC The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; , CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering research in Canada. NSERC directly funds university professors and students as ...

SSHRC The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC; , CRSH), often colloquially pronounced 'shirk' (), is a Canadian federal research-funding agency that promotes and supports post-secondary research and training in the humani ...

, and

CIHR The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR; ; IRSC) is a federal agency responsible for funding health and medical research in Canada. Comprising 13 institutes, it is the successor to the Medical Research Council of Canada. CIHR supports ...

) announced an 8-month pilot project to ensure that grants, awards, and jobs intended for Indigenous people go to those that are genuinely Indigenous.

Notable examples

Individuals who have been accused of being pretendians include:

Academic

Ward Churchill Ward LeRoy Churchill (born October 2, 1947) is an American activist, author, and former academic. He was a professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder from 1990 until 2007.

(born 1947) – A professor of ethnic studies and political activist, Churchill built his career on his claims of Indigenous identity that were unsupported by membership in any tribe or by later genealogical research that failed to find any evidence of Indigenous ancestry. * Qwo-Li Driskill (Paul Edward Driskill) (born 1975) – Former Associate Professor at Oregon State University claiming to be Cherokee,

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

(Delaware), Osage,

Lumbee The Lumbee, also known as People of the Dark Water, are a mixed-race community primarily located in Robeson County, North Carolina, which claims to be descended from myriad Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands who once inhabited th ...

and African. Driskill resigned from their position in September 2024, after accusations of academic misconduct and misrepresentation of their ethnicity. * Nadya Gill and Amira Gill (twins born 1998) – In September 2023, the twins, along with their mother, were charged with two counts of fraud for posing as adopted Inuit children in order to benefit from the 1993 Nunavut Agreement, which entitles Inuit students to benefits and scholarships, which the twins erroneously claimed. Before their deception was uncovered, the twins had been awarded over $158,000 in benefits. In February 2024, charges were dropped against the twins after their mother pled guilty to one count of fraud. In June 2024, the twins' mother was sentenced to 3 years in prison. * Elizabeth Hoover – University of California Berkeley professor and Native food sovereignty activist with documented childhood identification as Native and involvement within Native culture. Following questions about her ancestry, Hoover conducted her own family genealogical research. She then announced in 2022 that she was not Native American, adding that she had been mistaken about her ancestry. Hoover did not resign from her university position. * Kay LeClaire –

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

-based co-owner of "an Indigenous and queer art and tattoo space" who held a paid residency at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. LeClaire, who has also gone by the name Kathryn Le Claire and the self-chosen spirit name ''nibiiwakamigkwe'', misrepresented themself as

two spirit ''Two-spirit'' (also known as ''two spirit'' or occasionally ''twospirited'', or abbreviated as ''2S'' or ''2E'', especially in Canada) is a umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people who fulfill a trad ...

and was paid to educate students and LGBTQ audiences about

food sovereignty Food sovereignty is a food system in which the people who produce, distribute, and consume food also control the mechanisms and policies of food production and Food distribution, distribution. This stands in contrast to the present corporate Agr ...

, Indigenous queer identity, and the dangers of

. They were briefly a member of a state task force focused on

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women are instances of violence against Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the First Nations in Canada and Native American communities, but also amongst other Indigenous peoples s ...

. LeClaire has since resigned and the tattoo collective has apologized to the community for the harm that they say was done by LeClaire, stating that they have cut all ties with LeClaire. *Susan Taffe Reed Former director of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

's Native American Program. Fired in 2015 "after tribal officials and alumni accused her of misrepresenting herself as an American Indian".Pierce, Meghan,
"Dartmouth criticized for Native American Studies hire"
, ''

New Hampshire Union Leader The ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' is a daily newspaper from Manchester, the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. On Saturdays, it publishes as the ''New Hampshire Sunday News.'' Founded in 1863, the paper was best known for the ...

'', September 19, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015. * Andrea Smith Smith built a career as a scholar, author and activist based on her claim that she is a Cherokee woman. Despite many articles and statements by Cherokee people and genealogists stating she has no Cherokee heritage or citizenship, she has never retracted her claim. Smith has been employed as a professor in the Department of

Ethnic Studies Ethnic studies, in the United States, is the interdisciplinary study of difference—chiefly race, ethnicity, and nation, but also sexuality, gender, and other such markings—and power, as expressed by the state, by civil society, and by indivi ...

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

. In August 2023, the university announced that she would resign from the university as an emerita professor in August 2024, due to charges that she "made fraudulent claims to Native American identity in violation of the Faculty Code of Conduct provisions concerning academic integrity". * Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond (born 1963)Doug Cuthand
"Faking Indigenous ancestry hurts First Nations causes"
''Saskatoon StarPhoenix'', November 25, 2022. A lawyer, academic, and former judge, for whom false claims to Indigenous ancestry were alleged by the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

in 2022. She was dismissed from a university faculty position, and various honors and awards that she had received were revoked or relinquished, including all her 11 honorary degrees and the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. However, in 2024, the Law Society of British Columbia released a report which stated that

DNA analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

indicated that Turpell-Lafond most likely had recent Indigenous ancestry, while confirming she had made numerous "mischaracterizations" in her credentials.

Film, television, and music

* Mona Darkfeather (1882–1977) * Chief Thundercloud (1899–1955) Iron Eyes Cody-Roy Rogers in North of the Great Divide

* "Iron Eyes" Cody (1904–1999) Born Espera Oscar de Corti, and later becoming known as "The Crying Indian", this Italian-American actor is most well known for his appearance in a 1970's anti-littering PSA. Cody pretended to be from various tribes and denied his Italian heritage for the rest of his life. *

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

(born 1963) This actor has claimed both Creek and

Cherokee descent Individuals with some degree of documented Cherokee descent who do not meet the criteria for Cherokee tribal citizenship may describe themselves as "being of Cherokee descent" or as "being a Cherokee descendant". These terms are also used by non-Na ...

on numerous occasions, including when cast as

Tonto Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native Americans in the United States, Native American (either Tonto Apache, Comanche, or Potawatomi) Friendship, companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western (genre), Western character crea ...

in the 2013 film ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

'', but has no documented Native ancestry, is not a citizen in any tribe, and is regarded as "a non-Indian" and a "pretendian" by Native leaders. During the promotion for ''The Lone Ranger'' LaDonna Harris, a member of the Comanche Nation, adopted Depp, making him her honorary son, but not a member of any tribe. * Michelle Latimer – Canadian actress and film director whose claims of Indigenous ancestry and tribal membership have been questioned by the CBC, the Globe and Mail and other media. Latimer has said that her identification as Indigenous rested on the oral history of her maternal grandfather. A previously commissioned show was cancelled by CBC after Latimer's misrepresentations were made public. Latimer later produced genealogical records to bolster her claim that she was a 'non-status Algonquin'; these claims were rejected by tribal leaders. However, one genealogical researcher has found that Latimer had two Indigenous ancestors dating from 1644,Ka'nhehsí:io Deer and Jorge Barrera
"Award-winning filmmaker Michelle Latimer's Indigenous identity under scrutiny"

Indigenous, December 17, 2020. while others have found that Latimer has Indigenous ancestry from both her paternal and maternal lines that originate from a "historical community of Baskatong that was known for its Algonquin and Métis population." In 2020, Latimer apologized for having claimed historical roots to the Kitigan Zibi community.Barry Hertz
"'I made a mistake': Canadian filmmaker Michelle Latimer addresses Indigenous ancestry questions"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', December 17, 2020. * Sacheen Littlefeather (1946–2022) – Born Maria Louise Cruz, this actress took the stage in Plains-style attire at the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

to decline the 1972 Best Actor award on behalf of

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

for ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

'', on being hired by him to do so and advocate for Native American rights. Subsequently presenting herself throughout her life as a

White Mountain Apache The Fort Apache Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in Arizona, United States, encompassing parts of Navajo, Gila, and Apache counties. It is home to the federally recognized White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation (We ...

and

as she had portrayed on-stage, who had grown up in a hovel without a toilet, her sisters and others later said her father was a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

of Spanish descent with no known ancestors who had a tribal identity in Mexico, while her mother was of French, German, and Dutch descent. An investigation by the Navajo writer-activist Jacqueline Keeler and her team, and reviewed by academics prior to publication, revealed no apparent ties to any tribe in the United States. *

Heather Rae Heather Rae (born Heather Rae Bybee in California, October 1966) is an American film and television producer and director. She has worked on documentary and narrative film projects, specializing in those with Native Americans in the United States, ...

(born 1966) Born Heather Rae Bybee, having falsely claimed to be Cherokee, Rae became a prominent producer in Hollywood. She ran the Indigenous program at the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

from 1996 to 2001, producing a number of projects centered around Native American experiences including the Oscar-nominated ''

Frozen River ''Frozen River'' is a 2008 American crime drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt in her feature directorial debut. Starring Melissa Leo and Misty Upham, the film follows two working-class mothers who team up to earn money by smuggli ...

'' (2008). She serves on the Academy of Motion Pictures' Indigenous alliance, which "recognizes self-identification" for Native American identity. She has supported the casting of pretendians in Native roles as well as leading the charge for an apology by the Academy to fellow pretendian Sacheen Littlefeather. She is an adviser for IllumiNative, which says they are a "Native woman-led racial and social justice organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of—and challenging the narrative about—Native peoples". The

has stated that Rae is not a citizen of their nation and she did not receive funding for the film ''

Fancy Dance Fancy dance, Pan-Indian dancing, Fancy Feather or Fancy War Dance is a style of dance some believe was originally created by members of the Ponca tribe in the 1920s and 1930s, in an attempt to preserve their culture and religion. It is loosely ba ...

'' (2023), which they funded. Research by the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds into her public family records shows that Rae's family identified as white across multiple records and no documented ties to a tribal community. *

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie (born Beverley Jean Santamaria; February 20, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and social activist. Sainte-Marie's singing and writing repertoire includes subjects of love, war, religion, and mysticism, and h ...

(born 1941) Born Beverly Jean Santamaria, Sainte-Marie is an American musician who has said since 1963 that she has

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

Indigenous Canadian Indigenous peoples in Canada (also known as Aboriginals) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples within the boundaries of Canada. They comprise the First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis#Métis people in ...

roots. A 2023 investigation by

featured her birth certificate, which stated that she had been born in

Stoneham, Massachusetts Stoneham ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offers convenient access to Boston and ...

of European ancestry and that the couple who she had asserted were her adoptive parents were in fact her biological parents. In the 1960s, she had performed at a powwow and falsely claimed that she might be the long-lost daughter of a Piapot First Nation family; a couple she met there then adopted her into their family and still claim her to this day. For about 60 years, she built a career in part on her claimed Canadian and Native heritage. She was introduced as a regular character on the ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' television series in 1975, at which time she stated that "Cree Indians are my tribe, and we live in Canada". The CBC investigation concluded that "her account of her ancestry has been a shifting narrative, full of inconsistencies and inaccuracies". * Kelsey Asbille (born 1991) - Born Kelsey Asbille Chow, Kelsey is an American actress known for her roles in Wind River and Yellowstone, faced controversy regarding her claims of Native American heritage, particularly her claim of Eastern Band of Cherokee descent. While Asbille previously stated she was Taiwanese, British, and Eastern Band Cherokee, the tribe stated they have no record of her membership or Cherokee ancestry citing a lack of enrollment records or documentation supporting her claims. An inquiry from actor-producer Sonny Skyhawk prompted the tribe's statement, which stated that Asbille was not an enrolled member and that they had no evidence of her lineage. Asbille had previously told The New York Times that her Cherokee heritage was "in erblood." This discrepancy led to questions about her portrayal of Native American characters.

Literary

* Joseph Boyden (born 1966) A Canadian novelist, Boyden has claimed

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

Nipmuc The Nipmuc or Nipmuck people are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who historically spoke an Eastern Algonquian languages, Eastern Algonquian language, probably the Loup language. Their historic territory Nippenet, meaning 'the f ...

, and

Ojibway The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

heritage. He registered with the Ontario Métis Aboriginal Association, also known as the Woodland Métis Tribe. In January 2017, Boyden said he had erroneously identified himself as Mi'kmaq in the past and that he was a "white kid with native roots". * Asa Earl Carter (1925–1979) Published using the pseudonym Forrest Carter as a supposed

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

. The founder of a

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

paramilitary group and a

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

politician under his birth name, he used his pseudonym to write popular books including '' The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales'' and '' The Education of Little Tree''. Also known for co-authoring

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

's tagline, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever". *

(1888–1938) An Englishman born as Archibald Stansfeld Belaney who became a woodsman and wrote books and gave lectures as an activist primarily on environmental and conservationism issues, but was exposed after his death as having falsely claimed his Indigenous identity. *

Roxy Gordon Roxy Lee Gordon (March 7, 1945 – February 7, 2000) was an American poet, novelist, musician, multimedia artist, and activist. Described as a "progressive country witness and outlaw poet," Gordon often used spoken vocals accompanied by music ...

– an American writer and musician who identified as being of white,

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

, and

Assiniboine The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakoda ...

ancestry. A report from ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

'' alleged that he was a pretendian, concluding that he had no Native American heritage. The

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw language, Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Indian reservation, Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation ...

has stated that Gordon was not enrolled with the tribe. Gordon's son John Calvin has stated that he has found no evidence that his father had Choctaw heritage. *

Jamake Highwater Jamake Mamake Highwater (born Jackie Marks; 13 February 1931 – June 3, 2001), also known as "J Marks", was an American writer and journalist of Eastern European Jewish ancestry who mispresented himself as Cherokee. In the late 1960s, Marks as ...

(1931–2001) A prolific American writer and journalist born as Jackie Marks who passed as Cherokee and used Native American culture as his writing theme, although he was actually of eastern European Jewish ancestry. * Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance (1890–1932) The persona of the African-American journalist, writer, and film actor Sylvester Clark Long, who falsely claimed Blackfoot and Cherokee heritage. * Brooke Medicine Eagle (born 1943) the pseudonym of Brooke Edwards, an American author, singer-songwriter, and teacher specializing in a

interpretation of Native American religion. * Nasdijj (born 1950) The pseudonym of writer Tim Barrus, an American author and social worker best known for having published three "

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

" between 2000 and 2004 while presenting himself as a

. * Red Thunder Cloud (1919–1996) Born Cromwell Ashbie Hawkins West, also known as Carlos Westez, a singer, dancer, storyteller, and field researcher who was promoted as the last fluent speaker of the

Catawba language Catawba () is one of two Eastern Siouan languages of the eastern US, which together with the Western Siouan languages formed the Siouan language family. The last native, fluent speaker of Catawba was Samuel Taylor Blue, who died in 1959.Thomas ...

, but was later revealed to have learned what little he knew of the language from books and to have been of African American heritage. * Sat-Okh (1920–2003), also known as Stanisław Supłatowicz, was a writer, artist, and soldier who served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, who claimed to be of Polish and

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

descent. His origins were heavily disputed. *

Margaret Seltzer Margaret Seltzer (pseudonymously Margaret B. Jones, born 1975) is an American author who is notable for writing a fake memoir about growing up in South Central Los Angeles in February 2008. The book, entitled ''Love and Consequences: A Memoir of ...

(born 1975) The writer of a "memoir" of her supposed experiences as a half–Native American foster child and gang member in

South Central Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...

was later revealed to have completely fabricated the story after growing up in an affluent neighborhood with no Native American background or heritage. * Hyemeyohsts Storm (real name Charles Storm or Arthur C. Storm, born 1931 or 1935) is an author of German ancestry variously claiming

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin ( ; Dakota/ Lakota: ) are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains of North America. The Sioux have two major linguistic divisions: the Dakota and Lakota peoples (translati ...

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

, and

ancestry, but has not provided credible evidence for these claims. He is considered by many to be a

, and actual Cheyenne consider his purporting to present Cheyenne religion in his works as blasphemous, exploitative, disrespectful, stereotypical, and racist. When challenged, he presented a fraudulent Cheyenne enrollment card to his publisher,

Harper and Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when ...

. Historians have criticized ''Seven Arrows'' as falsifying and desecrating the traditions of the Cheyenne due to the numerous errors in his descriptions. He is known for inventing the medicine wheel symbol in his book, ''Seven Arrows'' (originally published as non-fiction but later reclassified as fiction in a settlement between the publisher and the Cheyenne tribe). * Erika T. Wurth is a novelist who self-identifies as being of

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

/Cherokee descent whose novel ''White Horse'' was reviewed favorably in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Native American activists have alleged that Wurth is white and has no Native American ancestry.

Political

* Kaya Jones (born 1984) A singer and model who joined the

National Diversity Coalition for Trump National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

as their "Native American Ambassador"; she falsely claimed to be

. * Kevin Klein – Manitoba politician whose ongoing claims of Metis ancestry were debunked in a July 31, 2023, piece by the

. * Sherri RollinsWinnipeg City Councillor whose ongoing claims of being "...a proud Huron-Wendat woman" were refuted in a CBC article. as well as on APTN News, both published on November 23, 2018. *

Danielle Smith Marlaina Danielle Smith (born April 1, 1971) is a Canadian politician, former lobbyist, and former columnist and media personality who has been serving as the 19th premier of Alberta and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since 20 ...

– Premier of Alberta who claimed to have a

great-great-grandmother who was a victim of the

Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...

. An investigation from

found no evidence that Smith's ancestors were Indigenous or victims of the Trail of Tears. *

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...

(born 1949) A

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

and presidential candidate who said she grew up believing she had Cherokee and Delaware ancestry due to family members saying so, and then claimed such heritage publicly. After her heritage was called into question, she attempted to support her claim by releasing a video with

, but her DNA claims were rejected by the Cherokee Nation, which formally requires a documented lineage. Then-

Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. (who became Principal Chief of the Nation in the following year) commented, "Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong". Warren eventually expressed regret and apologized for "claiming American Indian heritage". * Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond (born 1963)A Canadian lawyer, former judge, and advocate who falsely claimed

Treaty Indian In Canada, a Treaty Indian () is an Indian who belongs to a band that is party to one of the eleven Numbered Treaties signed by Canada with various First Nations between 1871 and 1922. It contrasts with Indians whose bands are not party to a treaty ...

status as a Cree Nation member.

Visual arts

* Gina Adams (born 1965) A visual artist and assistant professor at Emily Carr University, Adams claims White Earth Ojibwe and

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

ancestry, and that her grandfather lived on the

White Earth Indian Reservation The White Earth Indian Reservation () is home to the White Earth Band, in northwestern Minnesota. It is the largest Indian reservation in the state by land area. The reservation includes all of Mahnomen County, plus parts of Becker and Clea ...

and was removed at age eight to attend

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...

, which closed in 1918. Genealogists reported that Adams' grandfather "was a white man named Albert Theriault, who was born in Massachusetts to French-Canadian parents." Adams has also claimed that her great-great-grandfather was Ojibwe chief Wabanquot (1830–1898), a signer of the 1867 federal treaty with the Chippewa of the Mississippi. She has shown no evidence supporting any of these claims. She claims to be only a descendant, not an enrolled tribal member, so she and her gallery have so far successfully evaded the US Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990. * Jimmie Durham (1940–2021) An artist and activist who claimed one-quarter

by blood and to have grown up in a Cherokee-speaking community, Durham exhibited his work in the U.S. as Native American art until the 1990 passage of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (which prohibits false claims of Native production of arts and crafts that are offered for sale). He subsequently left the United States and continued to falsely claim Cherokee status in European exhibitions. He had formerly been an organizer and central committee member for the

American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an Native Americans in the United States, American Indian grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues ...

, and worked as the chief administrator for the

International Indian Treaty Council The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) is an organization of Indigenous Peoples from North, Central, South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific working for the Sovereignty and Self-Determination of Indigenous Peoples and the recognition ...

. He was found to have "no known ties to any Cherokee community" and to be "neither enrolled nor eligible for citizenship" in any of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. * Yeffe Kimball (1906–1978) An artist who claimed to be Osage. Born Effie Goodman, under her assumed identity she made art that she misrepresented as Native American, and also engaged in Native American political activism. * Cheyanne Turions An artist and art curator who claimed an

identity for grant applications until "outed" in 2021, Turions later stated that she had investigated her family's history and that as a result "I changed my self-identification to settler," and resigned from her position as a curator.

Other

* Edgar Laplante (1888-1944), an American-born French-Canadian con man and actor known for his

confidence trick A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irrespons ...

Notes

References

External links

{{Wiktionary
APTN Investigates: Cowboys and Pretendians

television report featuring many of the examples in this article, notably those in film
The Convenient "Pretendian"
''Canada Land'' podcast
Ghost Warrior Society
an anti-Pretendian task force based in Canada
"Indigenous 'Race Shifting' Red Flags: A Quick Primer for Reporters and Others"
by Kim TallBear (Sisseton-Wahpeton)
"Playing Pretendian"
Code Switch, NPR
Pretendians and Their Impact on Métis Identity in the Academy
-

panel discussion including

Maria Campbell Maria Campbell (born April 26, 1939 near Park Valley, Saskatchewan) is a Métis author, playwright, broadcaster, filmmaker, and Elder. Campbell is a fluent speaker of four languages: Cree, Michif, Western Ojibwa, and English. Four of her publis ...

(Métis) - December 10, 2021
The Pretendian Problem
-

Indian Country Today ''ICT'' (formerly known as ''Indian Country Today'') is a nonprofit, multimedia news platform that covers the Indigenous world, with a particular focus on American Indian, Alaska Native and First Nations communities across North America. Fo ...

video report on pretendians and fake Métis - January 28, 2021
Raceshifting
resource on Eastern Euro-Canadians and Euro-Americans posting as Indigenous peoples
Unsettling Genealogies Conference
- A Forum on Pseudo Indians, Race-Shifting, Pretendians, and Self-Indigenization in Media, Arts, Politics and the Academy - Series of eight panel presentations in Spring 2022, at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

.
Unmasking Pseudo Indians
Opening Remarks at by George Cornell (Ojibwe),

Ben Barnes (Shawnee) The Shawnee Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma. Formerly known as the Loyal Shawnee, they are one of three federally recognized Shawnee tribes. The others are the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and ...

, Kim TallBear (Sisseton-Wahpeton) - March 21, 2022
Teillet Report on Indigenous Identity Fraud
- October 2022 report for the

Tribal Alliance Against Frauds
an intertribal anti-fraud task force Literary forgeries Racial impostors Multiracial affairs in the United States Native American-related controversies Indigenous cultural appropriation Native American cultural appropriation Race in Canada Genealogical fraud Ethnic and religious slurs

History of false claims to Indigenous identity

Early claims

Post-1960s: Rise of pretendians in academia, arts, and political positions

21st century: Contemporary controversies

The "Alleged Pretendians List"

Controversies in media

Motivating factors

Law and consequences

Notable examples

Academic

Film, television, and music

Literary

Political

Visual arts

Other

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links