Indigenous identity fraud in Canada and the United States

Common card · No. 423400

Indigenous identity fraud is the practice of non-Indigenous people incorrectly claiming Indigenous identity. The Indigenous Chamber of Commerce states, "For Indigenous peoples, identity is not a self-declared label but is instead grounded in ancestry, kinship, community recognition, and lived experience, among other things." Indigenous identity fraud also refers to an individual who make such incorrect claims. Individuals who practice Indigenous identity fraud are often called "pretendians", a pejorative portmanteau of "pretend" and "Indian"; similarly a "pretenduit" is a portmanteau of "pretend" and "Inuit". Philip Deloria (Standing Rock Sioux) called the practice "playing Indian," and anthropologist Circe Sturm coined the term "race shifting". Indigenous identity fraud is considered an extreme form of cultural misappropriation, especially if that individual then asserts that they can represent, and speak for, communities from which they do not originate. Early false claims to Native identity...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Nathaniel Currier, Public domain