Captivating conversation about #selfindignation #pretendianism if you heard those phrases before, which I had, you might not know what it all means, which I didn't. It's not just appropriating a headdress at cochella... I was hooked on @kimtallbear.bsky.social every word.

Holding Our Ground: Voices and Strategies Against Self-Indigenization YouTube video by The Red Nation

Today (Wed March 4) at 3:30pm EST, Kim TallBear speaks on the global issue of self-Indigenization, particularly in the form of “ #Indigenous ethnic fraud,” or “ #pretendianism,” as it is referred to in North America. #sts In person & streaming: www.youtube.com/live/QgaF8yo...

Holding Our Ground: Voices and Strategies Against Self-Indigenization Hosted by the Department of American Indian Studies, this symposium responds to the global phenomenon known as self-Indigenization, pretendianism, or ethnic fraud.

Registration open, in-person & online. Reduced student rates & community members can request complimentary registration; limited & will be vetted. We prioritize actual tribal/Indigenous voices in resisting #pretendianism, + recognize that our community includes non-Indigenous allies. Please share.

Timeline of Efforts to Remove Dr. Driskill from OSU Faculty I created this timeline because I wanted people to be able to learn about the efforts to remove Dr. Driskill from the Oregon State University faculty--a movement that is taking place on multiple...

Info on another alleged self-indigenizer case. #pretendianism

Native status of Rosebud College staffer questioned One of the three Native American universities in South Dakota has some community members asking if a staff member is truly Native.

A breaking self-indigenizer investigation, this time close to home. Involving Dr. Erica Moore, current president of Sinte Gleska University, of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Research on the case done by Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF). #Pretendianism

Canada: ‘Inconvenient Indian’ author Thomas King says he is not Indigenous King has announced a genealogist working with the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds found no evidence of Cherokee ancestry in his family lineage

Another sorry, not sorry from a writer who has gained financially and social capital by riding for decades on a myth of speculative Cherokee ancestry. #pretendianism

Oops! CORRECTION: @asrao.bsky.social hosts @embodiedwunc.bsky.social

#DinaGilioWhitaker #enrollment #disenrollment #ethnicity #ethnicfraud #fraud #pretendianism #culturalappropiation #identitytheft #IHS #beneficiary #indigenous #NativeAmerican #AlaskanNative #FirstNations #USA #Alaska #Canada

How Fake Claims To Native Identity Cause Real Harm People have been pretending to be Native American for decades. While talking about ethnic fraud is tricky, one Native scholar says it’s necessary.

“How Fake Claims To #Native Identity Cause Real Harm @WUNC.org @embodiedwunc.bsky.social @anirao.bsky.social #pretendianism #ethnicfraud #fraud #indigenous #NativeAmerican #FirstNations @sassymetischick.bsky.social @delschilling.bsky.social @vinceschilling.bsky.social

www.wunc.org/show/embodie...

Everyone agrees #Pretendianism causes harm.
Everyone agrees community accountability is necessary.
But because the system that should be handling this (#sovereign #Indigenous governance) was undermined, we’re left with people enforcing colonial-style purity policing and exclusion instead.

#Pretendianism is a form of identity appropriation that mimics authenticity for power.

Ojigìjowewin Legal Symposium October 21-23, 2025 - Office of Indigenous Teaching, Learning, and Research Call for Abstracts Theme: Addressing False Claims of Indigeneity through Indigenous Legal Orders and Laws of the Land Carleton University and the Office

Call for abstracts:

Ojigìjowewin Legal Symposium (Oct 21-23), Ottawa, Carleton University.

"Addressing False Claims of Indigeneity through Indigenous Legal Orders and Laws of the Land"

#pretendianism

The fix for pretendianism in academia requires Indigenous involvement
#IndigenousPeoples #FirstNations #Canada #Pretendianism #IndigenousSovereignty #Reconciliation #EthicalVerification #IndigenousRights #DecolonizeAcademia #IndigenousIdentity
the-14.com/the-fix-for-...

The fix for pretendians in academia requires Indigenous involvement Verifying claims of Indigeneity means considering the significance of citizenship and kinship. And universities can’t do that by themselves.

"Many university administrators..have equated doing the right thing with saying yes to nearly all claims of Indigeneity. Saying yes was equated with inclusion while saying no was equated with racism..Sometimes saying no is what affirms accountability to Indigenous nations. #Pretendianism

Legislature rejects state recognition process following request of Wabanaki Nations • Maine Morning Star The Maine Legislature on Tuesday rejected two bills related to the state recognition of tribes.

"Legislature rejects state recognition process following request of Wabanaki Nations"

State recognition processes are often co-constituted with #pretendianism

Alcatraz rundown prison quarters from outside with big defaced sign " INDIANS WELCOME UNITED INDIAN PROPERTY INDIAN LAND" in red paint. Bookstore sign below since it's a national park setbice site now and attracts many tourists.

Tower and prison of alcatraz ruins with debris in foreground

More alcatraz ruins with a corroded danger sign: "DANGER INTENSE SOUND FOG SIGNAL DO NOT GO BEYOND THESE SIGNS"

Speaking of #Alcatraz, it's a ruin, but Orange Menace $ waster would relish a photo op of forced removal to the rock.

These pics from the surreal Indigenous People's Day 2022, which honored Sacheen Littlefeather right before the breaking story of her #pretendianism.

US mythologies are zombiesque.

Abenaki chief applauds defeat of state law he says gave too much power to New Hampshire tribes | CBC News The Chief of the Abenaki Nation of Odanak says it's important to continue to push back against what he calls 'self-identified' Abenaki groups in the U.S. At the end of March, New Hampshire refused to ...

"Odanak and W8linak, located near Trois-Rivières, Que., have historically clashed with groups in the U.S. regarding legitimacy. O'Bomsawin and some researchers contend that many of the Vermont-recognized Abenaki groups aren't Indigenous at all."
#pretendianism

Opinion — JC Butler: It’s time to teach the truth about Abenaki history and culture in our schools Educators committed to truth and justice cannot, in good conscience, support materials that uphold identity fraud and erase the voices of real Abenaki people.

"The way forward is clear: Vermont schools must stop platforming frauds. The state must rescind its recognition of these groups, and educators must commit to teaching real Indigenous history, no matter how uncomfortable it makes the dominant culture." #Pretendianism

Buffy Sainte-Marie removed from Canadian Museum for Human Rights exhibit | CBC News Buffy Sainte-Marie has been scrubbed out of an exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights because of questions surrounding the folk singer and activist's claims of First Nations identity.

"The exhibit [had] this photo of her singing to a crowd. The crowd is non-Indigenous peoples...She became essentially the 'First Nations person,' the 'Indigenous person' that America and Canada wanted …"

They prefer their cultural familiars dressed in beads and feathers.

#pretendianism

A Testy Forum on Abenaki Heritage Held at Vermont Statehouse A meeting with Abenaki leaders from Québec devolved into a shouting match over who has the right to claim they are Abenaki.

"Beginning in the 1970s, some people of French Canadian ancestry...began to claim “an idealized Abenaki identity,” Watso said. This effort to appropriate the culture of native groups wasn’t limited to Vermont, he said. “This is not a local issue but a global problem,” Watso said." #pretendianism