Doubts Over Indigenous Identity in Academia Spark ‘Pretendian’ Claims

Some Canadian universities now require additional proof to back up Indigenous heritage, replacing self-declaration policies.

Since announcing discoveries of evidence last year that hundreds of Indigenous children were likely buried in unmarked graves at church-run residential school sites, Indigenous groups in Canada have captured more national attention.

So, too, has a growing group of Canadian public figures, mostly within academia, who have been accused of falsely claiming to be Indigenous.

Earlier this week, an investigation published by Canada’s national broadcaster, the C.B.C., found that the claims to Cree ancestry of a prominent scholar and former judge, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, did not align with historical records and interviews.

This is the latest from the CBC, the woman is changing her story on the fly despite contradictory documentary evidence.

Turpel-Lafond now claims her father was adopted from a Cree family

After months of declining to directly answer CBC’s questions about her father’s parentage, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond has now claimed in a statement on Twitter that her father, who she says was Cree, was adopted by her grandparents.

For decades Turpel-Lafond, who has been considered one of Canada’s most accomplished Indigenous scholars, has claimed that she is a Treaty Indian of Cree ancestry. She said she was Cree because her father, William Turpel, was Cree.