What makes people fake being Native? How do they explain it once the truth comes out? And is there any way to be not Native, but….Native adjacent? We talk to three people who lived it.

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There are no shortage of stories about movie stars who played Native and kept the act going even after the cameras stopped rolling. Iron Eyes Cody, Sacheen Littlefeather, and Johnny Depp – being a Pretendian is a Hollywood tradition! A history of how they did it, and how well they were paid for it. 

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What happens when Pretendian investigations go wrong? Robert talks to Jacqueline Keeler, the person behind the “Alleged Pretendians List". Then, he talks to Kiros Auld, whose name appeared on that controversial list. The problem? Kiros is legitimately Native.

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Oklahoma's Republican governor Kevin Stitt is a card-carrying member of the Cherokee Nation. So why is he also considered the most "anti-Native governor" in history? A look at his family history reveals some wild surprises, and shows how Indigenous identity can be used as a weapon against Native nations.

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Marvin "Casper" Ouimet was your ordinary terrifying Hells Angel mob boss until he was sent to prison for conspiracy to commit murder. That's where he declared himself to be Indigenous. The prison asked no questions, and granted him access to a special program for Native inmates, in which prisoners get private cells, spiritual guidance, better food and ultimately – reduced sentences. But what about the real Natives in these programs?

Hosts: Robert Jago & Angel Ellis 

Credits: Jesse Brown (Publisher, Executive Producer), Caleb Thompson (Audio Editor, Mixer), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)   

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Why do people pretend to be Native? Hosts Robert Jago (Kwantlen First Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe) Angel Ellis (Muscogee (Creek) Nation) begin their journey by asking someone who has been doing just that. 

He’s not just your average imposter – "Grand Chief" Guillaume Carle is the king of the “pretendians", a French Canadian who made a small fortune creating his own fake First Nation and issuing phony Indian Status Cards to thousands of other identity thieves. 

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What do some of the most prominent and successful Indigenous artists, leaders and thinkers have in common? They aren’t Indigenous.  

From major universities, to the halls of power, to Hollywood, there are people claiming to be Indigenous in the interest of power, money, and status. There are dozens of outrageous cases of Indigenous identity fraud that we know about, and likely thousands that we do not. 

So why do these so-called “Pretendians” do it? How do they pull it off? And what happens when they are exposed?  

Find out on Tuesday, May 14.

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Ryan McMahon and Jon Thompson team up with Cherise Seucharan for the conclusion to Post Mortem, a two-episode dive into the connection between the police, the coroners, and the canary in a coal mine for death investigations across the province.

Host: Jesse Brown 

Credits: Jon Thompson (Reporter), Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Ryan McMahon (Reporter), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Further reading: 

• Reinvestigation into nine Indigenous deaths to focus on ‘finding the truth’ — TBNewswatch, October 16, 2019
• Lawyer says families 'ignored' as Broken Trust final report on death reinvestigations expected within weeks — CBC News, Feb 15, 2022
• Reports on racism and a reckoning for Thunder Bay — TVO Today, Jan 17, 2019
• 2 police officers step on handcuffed man's back as doctor watches at First Nation nursing station — CBC News, Jul 10, 2017
• Thunder Bay Police Board chair apologizes to families after report urges more death reinvestigations — CBC News, March 16, 2022
• Thunder Bay TV series, Crave

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For over five years, Canadaland has been investigating Thunder Bay, Ontario. Specifically, we have been trying to figure out why there were so many unanswered questions around the deaths of Indigenous people in this one Ontario town.

We have looked at the cops. The schools. The courts. The  government. The people in the town itself. But we never looked at the coroners and the forensic pathologists who are a central part of death investigations. And once we started to do so, freedom of information requests and leaked reports pointed to even greater problems with how deaths are investigated, that could span the entire province. 

And so we went back to Thunder Bay.

Host: Jesse Brown 

Credits: Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Jon Thompson (Reporter), Ryan McMahon (Reporter), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Annette Ejiofor (Managing Editor), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Further reading: 

• Lawyer says families 'ignored' as Broken Trust final report on death reinvestigations expected within weeks, CBC News, Feb 15, 2022
• Reports on racism and a reckoning for Thunder Bay, TVO Today, Jan 17, 2019
• Ontario coroners looking to unionize over working conditions, upcoming reforms, CBC News, June 14, 2023
• Horwath calls for review of Hamilton forensic pathology unit closure, CBC News, August 23, 2019
• 'Disappointing' response so far to 7 youth inquest recommendations, says Aboriginal Legal Services, CBC News, August 23, 2017
• Thunder Bay TV series, Crave

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Sponsors: Douglas, Communauto, Indochino

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.

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The verdict arrives in the trial that everyone’s talking about. Can there be justice? As Thunder Bay grapples with the truth about itself, people are still dying. Kids are still dying. 

So where do we go from here?

Support us here: canadaland.com/join.

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