By now, Canadians must be familiar with the term “pretendian.” The associated practice has become all the rage in the past few years. Sometimes, such people are euphemistically referred to as “wannabes” or “Indige-nots.” For those not in the know, I’m talking about that rare breed of settler who finds the need to tell everybody they are Native but have difficulty proving it. Like people who park in accessible parking spots without being disabled.
For a while now, the media has been flush with stories exposing the claims of Joseph Boyden, Michelle Latimer, Carrie Bourassa, and a host of others. In fact, a month rarely passes without some new allegation arising. And the interesting thing is, it always seems to be in the arts or in academia. I met a cab driver once who said he had some Native blood way back, but nobody seemed to care.
This issue has always presented something of a conundrum in the Indigenous community. I’ve been toying with the concept of writing a book on the topic. Not so much to out anybody — essentially, I’m interested in the thought process behind why these people put on the metaphorical headdress.
I want to raise my hand to say “how.” And ask why.
It seems there are three major reasons for such a transfer of identity. First, these people want or need to join a culture or family, after having found little to embrace in their immediate background. They desire a sense of belonging. A launching point or direction from which to tackle the next segment of their lives. Not so different from joining the Boy Scouts or a street gang, though the world of Indigeneity has a greater spiritual and historical context to offer. Luckily, we also know how to tie knots and ride motorcycles. So, bonus bonus.
Second, there may be financial benefits for some to appropriate when holding high the eagle feather. Some potentially lucrative contracts and advantageous high-profile positions exist for those interested in riding that buffalo.
Third — and what I am finding to be the most common — is incorrect family lore. A tale told by a grandfather or uncle of having an Indigenous ancestor deep in the family history. The infamous Cherokee princess story, maybe, or something that came out of watching too many episodes of Jesse Jim on the Beachcombers. People take these tall tales to heart and believe them without bothering to validate them.
Archie Belaney, a.k.a. Grey Owl, is believed to have been one of the most famous practitioners of pretendianism in Canadian history. Even then, it’s turning out not to be so cut and dry. Armand Garnet Ruffo, a fellow Anishnawbe, is the author of the book Grey Owl: The Mystery of Archie Belaney. He has developed a theory: Ruffo believes that Grey Owl didn’t culturally appropriate Indigenous culture — Indigenous culture culturally appropriated him.
There’s no possible way a 17-year-old boy, fresh to the Canadian north from Hastings, England, could have survived (let alone prospered enough to become Grey Owl) without the support and encouragement of the Indigenous people of the area. They all knew he was not Native, but they taught him to trap, hunt, and speak their language. Essentially, they thought the whole thing was funny. They made Grey Owl. If white people thought he was Native, the joke was on them.
While the wannabe issue has been on the Indigenous radar for a very long time, the texture of opinion has changed drastically. When I was young, it was easy to spot these people at powwows or at our doors looking for wisdom and guidance. Back then, we thought they were 75 per cent funny and maybe 25 per cent annoying. Today, they evoke almost 100 per cent anger. And create a sizable backlash.
A few years back, there was a call for Parliament to pass an act requiring all Indigenous people to prove their ancestry. That is a mixed bag in itself: just ask the University of Saskatchewan and Réal Carrière. When he applied for a position, the university, which had implemented new hiring requirements after the Bourassa incident, asked him for documented proof of his Métis heritage. The man refused, saying he doesn’t rely on colonizing documents to say who he is. Twist!
Last week, an Indigenous advisory group hired by Queen’s University told the school to apologize and create a new process to validate Indigenous identity. Queen’s hired the firm after allegations that six staff had falsely claimed Indigenous identity.
Here in Canada, there used to be a Twitter account called Pretendians for Hire that listed professionally successful people it believed had misled the public and their employers.
In the United States, there is an organization called Tribal Alliance Against Frauds that tracks down and outs those falsely claiming Indian heritage as a part of its mandate. Beware: they have researchers and a travel budget.
They could be called Pretendian-busters.
Who you gonna call?
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