Doug Cuthand: Faking Indigenous Ancestry Hurts Indigenous Causes

walterpalladNovember 25, 2022

It all started with the Gray Owl, a romantic image of 19th-century Native Canadians.

Doug Cuthand is a columnist on Indigenous Affairs for StarPhoenix and Regina Leader-Post in Saskatoon. Photo by Liam Richards /star phoenix

The problem of hypocrites, or those who claim their Indigenous heritage, is an ongoing concern in Indian Country.

It all started with the Gray Owl, a romantic image of 19th-century Native Canadians. He also earned money as a lecturer and was able to entertain European audiences. Unfortunately, he was also a drunkard, which reinforced his stereotype.

Future novelist Joseph Boyden, film director Michelle Latimer, and former University of Saskatchewan professor Carrie Brassa have all been questioned and labeled impersonators. They used dubious claims to fame to gain fame and fortune.

This has infuriated Indigenous scholars, film producers and intellectuals who have worked hard to succeed in their fields against overwhelming odds. They could also easily prove their Aboriginal ancestry simply by revealing their membership in the First Nations Band.

The most recent individual to find himself in hot water is Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a distinguished scholar and former judge, and the first child and youth representative of British Columbia. Yes, and she held that position for 10 years.

She is currently a tenured professor of law at the University of British Columbia’s Peter Allard Hall School of Law and director of UBC’s Indian Residential School Center for History and Dialogue.

In the past, she served as an advisor to First Nations parliamentary speaker Obide Mercredi during the negotiations of the Charlottetown Accords.

She also advised Chief Blaine Faber during his tenure as chief of what is now the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Peoples, FSIN. She was then appointed what is believed to be Saskatchewan’s first Native District Court judge.

Her resume and achievements are impressive. Therefore, it was quite a disappointment to find out that her Aboriginal roots were questionable.

Part of the investigative journalism conducted by the CBC revealed that Turpel-Lafond’s grandfather was Dr. Turpel, who worked at Norwegian House, Manitoba. The family left for southern Ontario in his 1939 and never returned. Turpel-Lafond is said to have been born in 1963 and raised in southern Ontario.

She claimed to be a member of the Norwegian House First Nation, but there are no documents showing her membership.

When she married George Lafond, she became a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation of Saskatchewan, so technically she is an Indigenous person through citizenship.

In the past, universities and government agencies have allowed indigenous people to self-define their status, allowing some to slip through the cracks. methods are being discussed.

What I find difficult to grasp is that most of these pretenders are very talented people who would probably succeed if they weren’t pretending to be indigenous.

Turpel-Lafond has the intelligence and education to back it up. She is most likely to be appointed to a bench or senior civil service position, regardless of her ethnicity.

The Turpel-Lafond case differs from others in that it is a member of the First Nations. She has become a member of the Muskeg Lake Indigenous People through her marriage. Under her code of membership in the First Nations, she was accepted as a member.

Due to changes to Indian law, First Nation citizenship is now determined by the First Nation. Like in the United States, we see the concept of citizenship rather than blood volume.

Previously, the Bureau of Indian Affairs governed First Nations membership under strict Indian law. This undemocratic and colonial rule was abolished some 40 years ago.

As for the rest of us, all the racism and cards are against us, so why would we want to take on an Indigenous identity in Canada, especially Saskatchewan? A new definition of gluttony for

Claiming Aboriginal status works in some cases. Upper echelons such as universities and government agencies are looking for brown faces that represent a sense of fairness and inclusivity. If you are educated and indigenous, you can use your status for positive actions, which can be good public relations for the institution.

But since they were indigenous, none of them took jobs as waitresses, welders, or mechanics. If anything, they should have tried harder.

Pretenders thrive among the white liberal elite, establishing themselves as artists, scholars, and comfortable intellectuals. The rest of us continue to walk with Indigenous life.

Doug Cuthand is a columnist on Indigenous Affairs for StarPhoenix and Regina Leader-Post in Saskatoon. He is a member of Little Pine First Nation.

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