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Pretendian

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Pretendian is a term frequently used for people who have falsely claimed to be citizens of Native American tribal nations, or to be descended from Native ancestors. As a practice, it is a form of cultural appropriation.

History

Historian Philip Deloria has noted that European Americans "playing Indian" is a phenomenon that stretches back at least as far as the Boston Tea Party [1]. In his book Playing Indian, Deloria argues that white settlers have always played with stereotypical imagery of the peoples that were replaced during colonization, using these tropes to form a new national identity that can be seen as distinct from previous European identities. Patrick Wolfe goes further, arguing that settler colonialism actively needs to erase and then reproduce Indigenous identity in order to create and justify claims to land and territory.[2]

Examples of white societies who have played Indian include, according to Deloria, the Improved Order of Red Men, Tammany Hall, and scouting societies like the Order of the Arrow. Individuals who made careers out of pretending an Indigenous identity include James Beckwourth,[3] Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance[4] and Grey Owl[5].

Joel W. Martin notes that ""an astonishing number of southerners assert they have a grandmother or great-grandmother who was some kind of Cherokee, often a princess,'" and that such myths serve settler purposes in aligning American frontier romance with southern regionalism and pride.[6]

Post 1969

The rise of pretendian identities post-1960's can be explained by a number of factors. The reestablishment and exercise of tribal sovereignty among tribal nations (following the era of Indian termination policy) meant that many individuals raised away from tribal communities sought to reestablish their status as tribal citizens. Other tribal citizens, who had been raised in American Indian boarding schools under genocidal policies designed to erase their cultural identity, also revived tribal religious and cultural practices. At the same time, in the years following the Occupation of Alcatraz, the formation of Native American Studies as a distinct form of area studies, and the awarding of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to Kiowa author N Scott Momaday, publishing programs and university departments began to be established specifically for or about Native American culture. At the same time, hippie and New Age cultures marketed Native cultures as accessible, spiritual, and as a form of resistance to mainstream culture, leading to the rise of the plastic shaman.

Alleged Pretendians spreadsheet

Journalist Jacqueline Keeler has published a list of alleged pretendians, noting that "Everyone on this list monetizes their claims to tribal identity and/or speaks for American Indian Tribes on a national or international level."[7]

Notable examples

Literary

Academic

Political

Elizabeth Warren[24][25][26]

See also

References

  1. ^ Deloria, Philip J. (1999). Playing Indian. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 64–8, 91, 101, et al. ISBN 9780300080674. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  2. ^ Patrick Wolfe (2006) Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native, Journal of Genocide Research, 8:4, 387-409, DOI: 10.1080/14623520601056240
  3. ^ Laura Browder, " 'One Hundred Percent American': How a Slave, a Janitor, and a Former Klansmen Escaped Racial Categories by Becoming Indians", in Beyond the Binary: Reconstructing Cultural Identity in a Multicultural Context, ed. Timothy B. Powell, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (1999)
  4. ^ Melinda Micco, "Tribal Re-Creations: Buffalo Child Long Lance and Black Seminole Narratives", in Re-placing America: Conversations and Contestations, ed. Ruth Hsu, Cynthia Franklin, and Suzanne Kosanke, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i and the East-West Center, 2000
  5. ^ Donald B. Smith, From the Land of Shadows: the Making of Grey Owl, (Saskatoon: Western Prairie Books, 1990)
  6. ^ Joel W. Martin. ″′My Grandmother Was a Cherokee Princess′: Representations of Indians in Southern History.″ In Dressing in Feathers: The Construction of the Indian in Popular Culture, ed. Elizabeth Bird (London: Routledge 1996).
  7. ^ Jacqueline Keeler. ″The Alleged Pretendians List"[1]
  8. ^ Carter, Dan T. (October 4, 1991). "The Transformation of a Klansman". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (November 24, 1991). "'Authenticity', or the Lesson of Little Tree" (PDF). The New York Times Book Review.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ Joane Nagel (1997-09-25). American Indian Ethnic Renewal: Red Power and the Resurgence of Identity and Culture. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512063-9.
  11. ^ Hoxie, Frederick E. Encyclopedia of North American Indians: Native American History, Culture, and Life From Paleo-Indians to the Present. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006: 191-2. (retrieved through Google Books, 26 July 2009) ISBN 978-0-395-66921-1
  12. ^ Jace Weaver (2001-11-01). Other Words: American Indian Literature, Law, and Culture. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3352-2.
  13. ^ Italie, Hillel, "Identity of Indian Memoirist is Disputed", Associated Press, ABCNews.Go.Com, January 25, 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2006.
  14. ^ Maul, Kimberly, "Agent Confirms Author Nasdijj and Gay-Erotica Writer Timothy Barrus Are Same Person", The Book Standard, January 27, 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2006.
  15. ^ Hillel Italie (Jan 31, 2006). "Publisher stops issuing memoirs by disputed author". Times Daily. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via Google News Archive.
  16. ^ Richardson, Valerie. "Report on Conclusion of Preliminary Review in the Matter of Professor Ward Churchill". Archived 2012-06-29 at the Wayback Machine University of Colorado at Boulder. 2005 . Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  17. ^ Brown, Thomas. "Is Ward Churchill the New Michael Bellesiles?" George Mason University's History News Network. 14 March 2005 . Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  18. ^ Harjo, Suzan Shown. "Ward Churchill: The White Man's Burden", Indian Country Today. 3 August 2007 . Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  19. ^ Viren, Sarah. "The Native Scholar Who Wasn't". New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  20. ^ Shorter, David (July 1, 2015). "Four Words for Andrea Smith: 'I'm Not an Indian'". Indian Country Today Media. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference Beast2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ Russell, Steve (July 1, 2015). "Rachel Dolezal Outs Andrea Smith Again; Will Anybody Listen This Time?". Indian Country Today Media Network. Archived from the original on 2015-08-05. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  23. ^ Various Authors (July 7, 2015). "Open Letter From Indigenous Women Scholars Regarding Discussions of Andrea Smith". Indian Country Today. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference Olmstead was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Linskey, Annie (February 5, 2019). "Elizabeth Warren apologizes for calling herself Native American". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 8, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  26. ^ Tarlo, Shira (February 6, 2019). "Elizabeth Warren apologizes for identifying as Native American on Texas bar registration card". Salon. Archived from the original on February 8, 2019. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
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