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I'm in the grey twilight zone of "fanfic writing" which is neither and both. I do try to live to Terry Pratchett's advice that if you're halfway serious about it, you need to get a minimum of five hundred words of writing every day that you'd be happy enough to let other people see!
 
I'm in the grey twilight zone of "fanfic writing" which is neither and both. I do try to live to Terry Pratchett's advice that if you're halfway serious about it, you need to get a minimum of five hundred words of writing every day that you'd be happy enough to let other people see!
I write a thousand words a day. I have to, I'm on contract for four books in the next year, so I have to go some to fit it in with the day job.

Writing novels - it's basically being paid to lie.
 
Another Pretendian.

Rachel Dolezal and Oli London are just a couple of examples from the concerning amount of white people who have recently cosplayed people of color for clout. The latest appears to be Kay LeClaire, a leader of a Wisconsin-based queer Indigenous artists collective who has been accused of faking their heritage.

The self-proclaimed Native American activist — who also identifies as “two-spirit,” a term for possessing both a masculine and a feminine spirit — has played a prominent role in Wisconsin’s Indigenous community. LeClaire recently spearheaded a petition for a white-owned bar, The Winnebago, to change its Indigenous-derived name. In the past, they have claimed to be of Métis, Oneida, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee heritage, according to a report Tuesday by Madison365. Their purported ethnicity has also helped them secure financial gains, the outlet said.
LeClaire was first accused of faking their Indigenous identity by an anonymous user on a message board who raised questions about their claims. Among them were allegations that LeClaire’s parents were of German and Swedish descent, as well as suggestions that LeClaire used their Ojibwe name in an inconsistent way.

Since then, LeClaire has reportedly apologized. “Moving forward, my efforts will be towards reducing harm by following the directions provided by Native community members and community-specified proxies,” they wrote in an email to Madison365. “Any culturally related items I hold are being redistributed back in community, either to the original makers and gift-givers when possible or elsewhere as determined by community members.”

Whatever lies LeClaire may have fabricated about their identity, this incident points to the more widespread problem of “Pretendians,” a term describing those who falsely claim to be of Indigenous descent. It’s a phenomenon that’s been especially prevalent in academic spaces throughout the U.S. and Canada recently, according to The New York Times. ...

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/indigenous-wisconsin-fake-identity-lie_n_63b5e123e4b0fe267cad1bf8

Yet another pretendian?

Canada's public broadcaster has published a bombshell investigation that calls into doubt the indigenous ancestry of Buffy Sainte-Marie.

The folk singer and activist, who rose to fame in the 1960s, has long claimed indigenous ancestry from Canada. She has said she was adopted by a white American couple as a baby.

But a CBC investigation claims to have found a birth certificate they say suggests her adoptive parents are her biological parents.

In a response published ahead of the CBC story, Sainte-Marie called the allegations "hurtful", adding: "I know who I am".

Sainte-Marie has said previously that she found she may have been adopted from members of the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan during the 60s Scoop, which is a term used to describe how thousands of indigenous children in Canada were forcibly removed from their families during the middle of the last century. ...

The issue of who is indigenous - and who is not - has received much attention in recent years. A number of high-profile artists and scholars have had their indigenous ancestry, including Canadian author Joseph Boyden, called into question. Many indigenous communities view false representation of their identity as deeply problematic.

"It's theft of opportunities, resources. It's theft of our stories," Kim TallBear, a professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, told the CBC.

For her part, Sainte-Marie maintains she has never misrepresented herself, but acknowledges that some facts have been hard to prove. In the statement, Sainte-Marie says that her mother told her she was adopted and that she was indigenous, "but there was no documentation as was common for Indigenous children born in the 1940's". ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67242752
 
Yet another pretendian?

Canada's public broadcaster has published a bombshell investigation that calls into doubt the indigenous ancestry of Buffy Sainte-Marie.

The folk singer and activist, who rose to fame in the 1960s, has long claimed indigenous ancestry from Canada. She has said she was adopted by a white American couple as a baby.

But a CBC investigation claims to have found a birth certificate they say suggests her adoptive parents are her biological parents.

In a response published ahead of the CBC story, Sainte-Marie called the allegations "hurtful", adding: "I know who I am".

Sainte-Marie has said previously that she found she may have been adopted from members of the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan during the 60s Scoop, which is a term used to describe how thousands of indigenous children in Canada were forcibly removed from their families during the middle of the last century. ...

The issue of who is indigenous - and who is not - has received much attention in recent years. A number of high-profile artists and scholars have had their indigenous ancestry, including Canadian author Joseph Boyden, called into question. Many indigenous communities view false representation of their identity as deeply problematic.

"It's theft of opportunities, resources. It's theft of our stories," Kim TallBear, a professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, told the CBC.

For her part, Sainte-Marie maintains she has never misrepresented herself, but acknowledges that some facts have been hard to prove. In the statement, Sainte-Marie says that her mother told her she was adopted and that she was indigenous, "but there was no documentation as was common for Indigenous children born in the 1940's". ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67242752

“On October 27, 2023, CBC News published Sainte-Marie's official birth certificate. It indicates that she was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts, to her white, supposed adoptive parents, Albert and Winifred Santamaria.[2] Her son with Dakota activist Sheldon Wolfchild has stated she obtained her claims to Native identity through "naturalization" and not by birth.[60] To verify Sainte-Marie's early Mi'kmaq identity claims, her younger sister took a DNA test that showed she had "almost no" Native American ancestry and she says she is genetically related to Sainte-Marie's son, which would not be possible if Buffy was adopted as she claimed.[60]

The CBC documentary included documentation showing her Sainte-Marie family had attempted to clarify her European ancestry in the 1960s and 1970s, and were later threatened with legal action for doing so.[57] In December 1964, Arthur Santamaria, Sainte-Marie’s paternal uncle, wrote to the Wakefield Daily Item, who published his editorial that Sainte-Marie "has no Indian blood in her" and "not a bit" of Cree heritage.[57] Her brother, Alan Sainte-Marie also wrote to newspapers, including the Denver Post in 1972, to clarify that his sister was born to Caucasian parents and that "to associate her with the Indian and to accept her as his spokesman is wrong".[57] Alan's daughter, Heidi Sainte-Marie, claims in 1975 he met Buffy and a PBS producer for Sesame Street while working as a commercial pilot. She claims the producer would later ask her father if he was Indigenous because he did not look like it and her father would clarify they were from European ancestry and not Indigenous.[57] On November 7, 1975, he received a letter from a law firm representing Buffy Sainte-Marie, which said, "We have been advised that you have without provocation disparaged and perhaps defamed Buffy and maliciously interfered with her employment opportunities" and the letter stated no expense would be spared in pursuing legal remedies.[57] Included with the law firm letter was a handwritten note from Buffy Sainte-Marie claiming she would expose her brother for allegedly sexually abusing her as a child if he continued speaking about her ancestry.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_Sainte-Marie#Indigenous_identity

maximus otter
 
Yet another pretendian?

Canada's public broadcaster has published a bombshell investigation that calls into doubt the indigenous ancestry of Buffy Sainte-Marie.

The folk singer and activist, who rose to fame in the 1960s, has long claimed indigenous ancestry from Canada. She has said she was adopted by a white American couple as a baby.

But a CBC investigation claims to have found a birth certificate they say suggests her adoptive parents are her biological parents.

In a response published ahead of the CBC story, Sainte-Marie called the allegations "hurtful", adding: "I know who I am".

Sainte-Marie has said previously that she found she may have been adopted from members of the Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan during the 60s Scoop, which is a term used to describe how thousands of indigenous children in Canada were forcibly removed from their families during the middle of the last century. ...

The issue of who is indigenous - and who is not - has received much attention in recent years. A number of high-profile artists and scholars have had their indigenous ancestry, including Canadian author Joseph Boyden, called into question. Many indigenous communities view false representation of their identity as deeply problematic.

"It's theft of opportunities, resources. It's theft of our stories," Kim TallBear, a professor of Native Studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, told the CBC.

For her part, Sainte-Marie maintains she has never misrepresented herself, but acknowledges that some facts have been hard to prove. In the statement, Sainte-Marie says that her mother told her she was adopted and that she was indigenous, "but there was no documentation as was common for Indigenous children born in the 1940's". ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67242752

Here's the CBC report on the allegations. Looks pretty conclusive to me.

Who is the real Buffy Sainte-Marie?

Buffy Sainte-Marie’s claims to Indigenous ancestry are being contradicted by members of the iconic singer-songwriter’s own family and an extensive CBC investigation.

When it comes to Sainte-Marie’s claimed Indigenous ancestry, newspaper and magazine references reveal a story full of inconsistencies and contradictions.

Early in her career, she was referred to generically as “an American Indian.”

But over time, the references became more specific.

In March 1963, Florida’s Fort Lauderdale News said she was “a full-blooded Algonquin Indian.” That was echoed in a New York Times article in August of that year, which called her “a young Algonquin Indian girl.”

Then, in October, the Detroit Free Press reported that “Buffy was born a Micmac (Mi’kmaq) Indian in Maine,” adding that “her Micmac name is Tsankapasa, or Dark Fawn.” Later that same month, the Boston Herald said she referred to herself as “half-Micmac by birth.”

The first reference to Sainte-Marie being Cree that CBC could locate came in December 1963, when the Vancouver Sun referred to “Cree Indian folk singer Buffy St. Marie.”

In the space of those 10 months, she was referred to as Algonquin, full-blooded Algonquin, Mi’kmaq, half-Mi’kmaq and Cree.
....

As part of her report on false Indigenous identity claims, Teillet included a list of what she refers to as “red flags,” warning signs that might indicate someone isn’t telling the truth about their ancestry. One of those flags is shifting Indigenous identities.

Teillet said if those reports accurately reflect what Sainte-Marie told the publications, it is hard to understand how she could claim such dramatically different ancestral lines.

She pointed out that the Mi’kmaq live on the East Coast, Algonquin people are from Ontario and northern Quebec and Cree people are primarily from the Prairies.

“It’s really difficult to believe that somebody could mistake being Cree for being Mi’kmaq,” said ( Vancouver lawyer, Jean) Teillet.
“Those are so far apart that it’s a little bit ludicrous, right?”

Here's the documentary on YouTube -

 
Another Pretendian.

Rachel Dolezal and Oli London are just a couple of examples from the concerning amount of white people who have recently cosplayed people of color for clout. The latest appears to be Kay LeClaire, a leader of a Wisconsin-based queer Indigenous artists collective who has been accused of faking their heritage.

The self-proclaimed Native American activist — who also identifies as “two-spirit,” a term for possessing both a masculine and a feminine spirit — has played a prominent role in Wisconsin’s Indigenous community. LeClaire recently spearheaded a petition for a white-owned bar, The Winnebago, to change its Indigenous-derived name. In the past, they have claimed to be of Métis, Oneida, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee heritage, according to a report Tuesday by Madison365. Their purported ethnicity has also helped them secure financial gains, the outlet said.
LeClaire was first accused of faking their Indigenous identity by an anonymous user on a message board who raised questions about their claims. Among them were allegations that LeClaire’s parents were of German and Swedish descent, as well as suggestions that LeClaire used their Ojibwe name in an inconsistent way.

Since then, LeClaire has reportedly apologized. “Moving forward, my efforts will be towards reducing harm by following the directions provided by Native community members and community-specified proxies,” they wrote in an email to Madison365. “Any culturally related items I hold are being redistributed back in community, either to the original makers and gift-givers when possible or elsewhere as determined by community members.”

Whatever lies LeClaire may have fabricated about their identity, this incident points to the more widespread problem of “Pretendians,” a term describing those who falsely claim to be of Indigenous descent. It’s a phenomenon that’s been especially prevalent in academic spaces throughout the U.S. and Canada recently, according to The New York Times. ...

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/indigenous-wisconsin-fake-identity-lie_n_63b5e123e4b0fe267cad1bf8

Is Rachel on a blacklist?

Nkechi Diallo has reportedly been fired from her job at the Catalina Foothills School District in Arizona after district officials discovered her OnlyFans account.

In an email sent to News 4 Tuscon on Wednesday, Julie Farbarik, the district’s director of alumni and community relations, said Diallo’s posts “are contrary to our district’s ‘Use of Social Media by District Employees’ policy and our staff ethics policy.”
ADVERTISEMENT

Farbarik said the district discovered the social media posts on Tuesday. Although Farbarik didn’t specify which position Diallo held, district board meeting records show she was hired as an after-school instructor on Aug. 9, 2023, for $19 an hour, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
Diallo’s OnlyFans account, which is an internet subscription service known for its explicit adult content, is linked to a public social media page she has. As News 4 Tuscon noted, some of Diallo’s posts have been shared on other social media platforms like Reddit, but it’s unknown if Diallo shared them or someone else did.

The Catalina Foothills School District didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

This isn’t the first time Diallo has been in the headlines. Previously, Diallo was Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who faced massive criticism after being accused of pretending to be Black for personal profit. As Dolezal, she was the head of an NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington, but resigned from the position in 2015 following the backlash.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rach...r-onlyfans-account_n_65cd307de4b02493f348a18a
 
Is Rachel on a blacklist?

Nkechi Diallo has reportedly been fired from her job at the Catalina Foothills School District in Arizona after district officials discovered her OnlyFans account.

In an email sent to News 4 Tuscon on Wednesday, Julie Farbarik, the district’s director of alumni and community relations, said Diallo’s posts “are contrary to our district’s ‘Use of Social Media by District Employees’ policy and our staff ethics policy.”
ADVERTISEMENT

Farbarik said the district discovered the social media posts on Tuesday. Although Farbarik didn’t specify which position Diallo held, district board meeting records show she was hired as an after-school instructor on Aug. 9, 2023, for $19 an hour, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
Diallo’s OnlyFans account, which is an internet subscription service known for its explicit adult content, is linked to a public social media page she has. As News 4 Tuscon noted, some of Diallo’s posts have been shared on other social media platforms like Reddit, but it’s unknown if Diallo shared them or someone else did.

The Catalina Foothills School District didn’t immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

This isn’t the first time Diallo has been in the headlines. Previously, Diallo was Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who faced massive criticism after being accused of pretending to be Black for personal profit. As Dolezal, she was the head of an NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington, but resigned from the position in 2015 following the backlash.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rach...r-onlyfans-account_n_65cd307de4b02493f348a18a
Ms Diallo, she really goes for it! :chuckle:

This business, and the Buffy Sainte-Marie one that I and others have posted about, belong on a different thread.
These are people are lying and deceiving for personal gain. It's not because they can't help themselves.

Maybe this one.

Lies, Liars & Lying

Or one about frauds and scams.
 
Another Pretendian? She's either a pathological liar or was mistaken. But even a folklore professor wouldn't believe a tall tale like hers. Odd that she didn't conduct genealogical research until after her identity was questioned. There's also plagiarism involved. Along with other darker stuff.

A Professor Claimed to Be Native American. Did She Know She Wasn’t?​

Elizabeth Hoover, who has taught at Brown and Berkeley, insists that she made an honest mistake. Her critics say she has been lying for more than a decade.

Elizabeth Hoover, who is now forty-five years old, describes her childhood as “broke”—her father worked odd construction jobs and was periodically unemployed—but idyllic. “I spent most of my time running around outside,” she told me recently. “My dad said I could head anywhere as long as I took a dog, a walking stick, and a knife.” Much of her youth was spent harvesting vegetables, butchering meat, and chopping wood for the winter.

As Hoover and her sisters grew older, they began to find a sense of purpose and identity in a story that Anita told them about their family. Their great-grandmother, she said, had been a Mohawk Indian, and she had drowned herself in order to escape her drunk and abusive French Canadian husband. The girls were also told that they were Mi’kmaq on their father’s side. Anita began taking the girls to powwows across western New York and New England, where Native Americans would play music, share crafts, and dance. These gatherings are held throughout the country. They are intertribal and offer opportunities for Native Americans who have become disconnected from their people to be welcomed back in.

Tammy Bucchino met Hoover at a powwow in the early nineties. Bucchino’s mother, a German woman, took Tammy to the powwows for the same reasons that Anita Hoover took Elizabeth: she wanted her child to feel a connection to her heritage. Bucchino’s father was full-blood Mi’kmaq, but she wouldn’t get to know him until later in life. “We clicked because she said she’s Mi’kmaq, like me,” Bucchino said of Hoover. “And she said she had Mohawk background, and my stepbrother has a Mohawk background as well.” ...

Then in October of 2022 Hoover published a statement on her Web site: “As a result of recent questions about my identity, I, along with others, conducted genealogical research to verify the tribal descent that my family raised me with, digging through online databases, archival records, and census data.” These searches, she explained, had turned up no evidence of Native American lineage. “Essentially what I am currently left with is that I do not have any official documentation to verify the way my family has identified.”

Several months later, after this statement had been met with great skepticism and online furor, Hoover, in consultation with the Restorative Justice Center at Berkeley, published another statement: “I am a white person who has incorrectly identified as Native my whole life, based on incomplete information.” ...

Such fraud seems particularly rife in academia. In just the past few years, several scholars have been accused of being Pretendians, including Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a former judge and law professor in Canada who has said that her father was Cree, and Qwo-Li Driskill, a professor of gender and queer studies at Oregon State University who claims to have Cherokee, Lenape, Lumbee, and Osage heritage. (Turpel-Lafond denied the accusation, in 2022; Driskill’s attorney characterized the accusation against his client as intrusive and false.) Ward Churchill, one of the country’s best-known Native-studies scholars, has been accused, throughout his career, of telling false stories about his Cherokee ancestry; when asked for proof of it, he claimed that such inquiries were the tools of colonialism. In January, 2023, Andrea Smith, a major figure in the field of ethnic studies, agreed to resign from the University of California, Riverside, effective this August, following questions about the veracity of her Cherokee heritage. (Both Churchill and Smith deny lying about their identities.)

There are likely many other cases. Kim TallBear, an enrolled member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate tribe and a professor of Native studies at the University of Alberta, guesses that a quarter of those who have checked the box for Native American in the academy are what she calls “self-Indigenizers,” people who either invent a Native heritage wholesale or play up a tenuous connection. “Most of the cases haven’t been made very public yet,” TallBear said. ...

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/...-to-be-native-american-did-she-know-she-wasnt
 
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Ok, while we are at it; how many of these minority folk claim to be white???

(And also, if someone is one ethnicity and raised in another....what are they???)

My indigenous friend is very white but then she is of the Metis tribe, and now exploring the Scottish side of her ancestry.
 
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