Again and again it’s claimed that fake indigenous people are taking opportunity from real indigenous people. But there is no limitation on how much talent there can be and there should be room for all the talent that makes the effort. It was wrong of her to claim to be indigenous because it wasn’t true... she wasn’t being authentic in a world trying so hard to embrace authenticity. But she wouldn’t be the first non-native person to embrace an indigenous identity. Some of my favourite books in my youth were ones written by Grey Owl. Remember him? He grew up in England, raised by two of his aunts. He had a consuming interest in wildlife and always wanted to come to Canada and be an Indian. So he did. He even got to go back to England to meet a monarch because he was a native writer. One indigenous researcher estimates that a huge percentage of indigenous people are actually not. Why?
Should we actually ask ourselves what’s at the heart of this phenomena? Is it just trying to grab an unearned opportunity? Or is there more to it than that? When white Europeans came to North America (Turtle Island), they were often running away from some sort of persecution. Thing is, they brought the injustice they’d suffered with them and summarily used the same abusive tactics on the people they encountered here. Not only run-of-the-mill injustice, but diseases intentionally spread, bigotry, genocide, residential schools that attempted to beat the Indian out of the children, stealing the land, outlawing the languages and customs of indigenous people. And now some of these great conquerors are wanting to switch teams? Let’s see... who started both world wars? Was it indigenous people from here, or Asians, or Africans? Oh wait, white Europeans again. Sure, they managed to involve others, but hey... Is it possible we're witnessing the rejection of white European culture?
And then there’s the issue of mental health. At a time when we’re supposed to be more sensitive to the inner demons that drive some people, the decision is made to expose an obviously seriously delusional person in a program that’s aired publicly. Was that a good idea? Now? That program hasn’t just hurt her, it’s hurt a lot of people. Why? And does the truth negate all her accomplishments somehow? Do the songs disappear? She got one movie producer to hire only real indigenous actors for his film. (She may have been the only fake Indian in it.) Is that now a bad thing? She gave indigenous people a voice, writing and singing about Wounded Knee. Does that have to go away now too? Was someone else destined to write Universal Soldier? She made children aware of indigenous people with her role on Sesame St. Does that not count now? She immersed herself in a culture not her own and lived most of her life that way. Now that she’s an old lady, do we just disregard her life and everything she accomplished? Does she just disappear now?
The Fifth Estate could have investigated why the Doctrine of Discovery is still on the books in Canada. They could have investigated murdered and missing indigenous women. They could have investigated just how many ancient indigenous monuments are on “crown” land and how many of them actually cannot be accessed. But they chose to do this, to satisfy the vengeance of her niece. And who is the better for it? Don’t tell me it’s going to stop the wannabes, because I just don’t believe that.
