A Means to Co-opt and Misdirect Efforts Away from Indigenous Liberation
There is a long history of “pretendianism” in the United States, where opportunists present themselves as “Native” when they are in fact, not that. This is not simply a question of individual “nationality identity,” but too frequently a decision made by unscrupulous self-serving interests to tap into what has become a multi-million dollar industry. These people are taking advantage of increased public sentiment supporting the demand for “diversity” in funding and representation, but position themselves in relationship to the establishment’s neoliberal power structure to misdirect financing to themselves rather than assist efforts to win actual indigenous self-determination.
A growing number of state and regional governmental bodies, liberal Democratic Party elected officials, academic institution operatives, corporate archeological companies, non-profit administrators and artists are in cahoots with this insidious money grab, often unknowingly, to help derail the cause of true indigenous liberation and uphold white supremacist power structure culture and the status quo. Note, that one need not be of European decent to engage in this practice.
In short, “pretendianism,” “race-shifting” and identity theft is an extension of settler colonialism and a symptom of late-stage capitalism to extend violence upon actual native peoples.
Note that in places like Southern CA, there are more than several dozens of pretendians working diligently to opportunistically secure public funding for self-interests that are not of European lineage. It’s not just white people that engage in this practice. It is a practice which seeks to co-opt public sentiment in support of indigenous interests for private personal gain.
Identity fraud and Indigenous self-determination event at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues:
We MSU Unsettling Genealogies Conference 2022: UNMASKING PSEUDO INDIANS
https://youtu.be/fyY0egN0cd4?feature=shared
Indigenous identity fraud a pervasive problem, new report finds
https://youtu.be/QPxg1s3kyko?feature=shared
Kim Tallbear on “Race Shifter Red Flags” (audio)
https://kimtallbear.substack.com/p/indigenous-race-shifting-red-flags#details
Excerpt from above “Unsettled Geneologies Conference” in 2022:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?