A Canadian woman who fraudulently claimed her daughters were Inuit has been sentenced to three years in jail, in what is believed to be the first ever custodial sentence for a ‘pretendian’ … Nunavut justice Mia Manocchio said the case ‘must serve as a signal to any future Indigenous pretender that the false appropriation of Indigenous identity in a criminal context will draw a significant penalty’. (The Guardian, June 28 2024).
Concerns over false claims of Indigenous heritage – whether for professional, financial or other reasons – appear to be growing around the world. High-profile claims that have been challenged include people from music, politics and academia.
In Canada, as well as the numerous cases of these so-called pretendian individuals, questions about entire communities prompted Indigenous leaders to hold an Identity Fraud Summit in Winnipeg in May 2024. Featuring leaders from many of Canada’s long-established Indigenous groups, the event sought to highlight “the true national scale of the problem of collective Indigenous identity fraud”. The summit concluded that:
