Self-identification created a mess and it needs to stop, says Palmater

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After decades of hiding their identities, Indigenous leaders say communities are now experiencing a “new identity crisis” as more and more Canadians falsely and fraudulently claim Indigenous ancestry for personal gain.

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Self-identification created a mess and it needs to stop, says Palmater Back to video

“Today it’s a different crisis. We are struggling with people who are trying to be us,” Scott McLeod, the Chief of the Ontario-based Nipissing First Nation said this week while speaking at the two-day Indigenous Identify Fraud Summit in Winnipeg.

McLeod says when growing up on his reserve, he saw countless examples of community members and Elders hiding their heritage out of fear of what could happen to them if they publicly shared their culture, language or ceremonies.

“Back in the ’60s and ’70s we had identity issues because we were trying to find our own identity after centuries of suppression and oppression, and being outlawed to practice who we were as a people,” McLeod said.

“Growing up, elders were very reluctant to teach the traditional ways to the young people because of the bad things that were happening in our communities. There were times when you could go to jail for having ceremony, for speaking the language, for doing the things we knew to be our identity.”

The summit in Winnipeg, which is being co-hosted by the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) and the Chiefs of Ontario (COO) saw hundreds of First Nations, Métis and Inuit representatives gather for two days of talks surrounding Indigenous identity fraud.

A University of Saskatchewan 2022 report used the term “Indigenous identity fraudster” to define those who make “false claims to Indigenous identity, usually for personal material advantage,” and the report says the issue is growing in Canada, as people look for opportunities by claiming false Indigenous identities.

Dr. Pam Palmater, a well-known First Nations lawyer and activist referred to those who use fake claims of Indigenous identity as “pretendians,” and said it is an issue that needs to be combated with a lot more urgency, because of how it harms legitimate Indigenous people and communities.

“If you just think about this on an individual level, they’re taking jobs, they’re taking opportunities, they’re taking student support, procurement agreements, and they are taking over our voices in the media,” Palmater said.

“The reason why individual pretendians are also so problematic is because they get into positions of power as decision makers and that can change our very culture. I don’t want them to turn my culture into something that is absolutely isn’t.”

She added she has been attacked online for years over her stance on what she calls “pretendians,” but said it is important to keep combating Indigenous identity theft.

“There are some that say ‘why question people? Why not just let anyone in?’ But as nations we do have citizen rules like any other nations in the world, and we have borders within our nations,” Palmater said.

“It’s a threat to our sovereignty, our jurisdiction, our law-making ability, our authority and our economy.”

The 2022 University of Saskatchewan report also states that Indigenous identity theft is a growing problem in Canadian universities, which often rely on self-identification, which can lead to false claims of Indigenous ancestry by both students and faculty members.

Palmater said she and other would like to see an end to self-identification as quickly as possible, because students are using it to make false identity claims and receive benefits and scholarships meant for Indigenous people.

“I understand why we started out with self-identification, because we didn’t want to be in a process where we were creating trauma against our own people,” she said. “But self-identification has gotten us into this mess.

“We need to very quickly get out of self-identification.”

— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.