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pretendian
DCHP-3 (Feb 2023)
Spelling variants:Pretendian, "pretendian"
n. — Colonialism, Indigenous resistance
a person falsely claiming Indigenous heritage.
Type: 6. Memorial — The origin of the term pretendian remains uncertain, although it may have been first defined in the Urban Dictionary in April 2007 (see Image 1). Pretendian saw a spike in activity on Twitter in mid-2012 during the controversy surrounding US Senator Elizabeth Warren's claims of Native American ancestry (see Image 2).
The word pretendian started to gain traction in Canada during the Joseph Boyden scandal in late 2016 (see the 2016 quotation), when an APTN article by Jorge Barrera revealed that the celebrated author had greatly exaggerated his claims to Indigenous ancestry and communal belonging, although Barrera himself did not use the term in his article.
Since 2020, numerous scandals surrounding the ethnic claims of several prominent Canadians have surfaced, including award-winning musician Buffy Sainte-Marie, filmmaker Michelle Latimer, UBC professor Justice Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond (see the first 2022 and the first 2023 quotations), and most recently, U of S professor and Indigenous health researcher Carrie Bourassa (see the second 2022 quotation). All of these individuals have since been sanctioned for misleading claims. As a result, the term pretendian has become increasingly current in Canadian media (see Chart 1) and culture (see both the second and third 2022 and the third 2023 quotations, as well as Image 3) and is well on its way to joining the mainstream Canadian lexicon (see the second 2023 quotation). Canadian icon Buffy Sainte-Marie has been shown to have been born to non-Indigenous parents (see the 2025 quotation).
Pretendian is classified as a "Memorial" term, as it reflects another negative effect of Canada's colonial history. As Chart 1 shows, it is predominantly used in Canada today and would also qualify as a Type 5 Canadianism (Frequency).
The word pretendian started to gain traction in Canada during the Joseph Boyden scandal in late 2016 (see the 2016 quotation), when an APTN article by Jorge Barrera revealed that the celebrated author had greatly exaggerated his claims to Indigenous ancestry and communal belonging, although Barrera himself did not use the term in his article.
Since 2020, numerous scandals surrounding the ethnic claims of several prominent Canadians have surfaced, including award-winning musician Buffy Sainte-Marie, filmmaker Michelle Latimer, UBC professor Justice Mary-Ellen Turpel-Lafond (see the first 2022 and the first 2023 quotations), and most recently, U of S professor and Indigenous health researcher Carrie Bourassa (see the second 2022 quotation). All of these individuals have since been sanctioned for misleading claims. As a result, the term pretendian has become increasingly current in Canadian media (see Chart 1) and culture (see both the second and third 2022 and the third 2023 quotations, as well as Image 3) and is well on its way to joining the mainstream Canadian lexicon (see the second 2023 quotation). Canadian icon Buffy Sainte-Marie has been shown to have been born to non-Indigenous parents (see the 2025 quotation).
Pretendian is classified as a "Memorial" term, as it reflects another negative effect of Canada's colonial history. As Chart 1 shows, it is predominantly used in Canada today and would also qualify as a Type 5 Canadianism (Frequency).
Quotations
2015
Sometimes called race-shifting or being a pretendian, claiming Indigenous ancestry without evidence to prove it is a contentious issue in our community. Many are angered by her claims. Indigenous Twitter is incensed by the news, and understandably. The days of Grey Owl picking up the feather and batting his blue eyes at the Canadian public are long gone. We bat our own eyes.
2016
Award-winning Canadian novelist Joseph Boyden is defending his right to identify as an indigenous person, after an aboriginal publication raised questions about his background and name-callers on Twitter labelled him a "pretendian."
2018
And calling out fakes is even more difficult, according to Jeff Barnaby.
“Say you get a fake, you get a pretendian. And he steps to you with like you know I’m such and such from this reserve and you can’t you can’t really broach that topic,” explained Barnaby. “I think specific ACTRA rules or SAG rules where you can sit there and say or you know what’s this and that about your race. So there’s no real way to vet anybody coming in pretending to be a native actor. There’s no way.”
2020
No wonder decision-makers love pretendians. Pretendians provide them with all the dreamy Indigi-benefits without the dismal realities of Indigenous lived experience.
2022
I had the idea of capitalizing on the area's rich history, as it was the centre of the universe for the Nlaka'pamux people for at least 7,000 years.
My scheme was to sell arrowhead souvenirs to American tourists who came by to fish for salmon and trout, and gawk at the scenery.
That made me a Pretendian, a white kid who aped Indigenous culture and tagged along behind local Indigenous schoolyard heroes like Robert Bolan, who was a few years older and seemed amused by my efforts. With no arrowheads of my own to sell, I took a try at making them for the tourist trade. This proved to be much harder than I anticipated, so I quietly gave up on that venture without selling anything. No one paid much attention to me so I wasn't particularly embarrassed.
2022
Jean Teillet, a Métis lawyer, has given this matter considerable thought. Teillet was retained by the University of Saskatchewan to investigate Indigenous identity fraud after Carrie Bourassa’s claims were called into question. I reached out to Teillet to ask her about the role universities should play in investigating identity fraud allegations. “A university’s responsibility is different now than it was a couple years ago,” said Teillet. “The difference is that universities are well aware that they have Pretendians in their midst. A few years ago, universities could still claim ignorance and that they were acting in good faith. Now they can’t say that.”
2022
Pretendians will never understand that pain. The pain of hearing stories of what happened to your parents and grandparents, and the pain of being born into a world where your predecessors lost everything.
If an investigation were to be carefully calculated about me, much like it was on Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, you would learn that my grandparents effectively hid their seven children in the town of the Pas to avoid the Guy Hill Residential School and the Sixties Scoop.
2023
Season 1 is the story of Delphine Purcell, a 26-year-old Indigenous PhD candidate from the Interior of British Columbia, who assembles a rag-tag team to reclaim her ancestor’s remains in the most daring dupe their university has seen since accidentally hiring a Pretendian in 2002. Delphine and her team quickly realize they aren’t the only ones interested in her Ancestor, and they must work together if they want to outsmart the White Saviours and Collectors who have been drawn to the community like vultures, ready to pick the bones clean.
2023
#qalipu this is a real Mikmaq friend with a filter - making herself white like a qalipu pretending
#pretendian #raceshifter
fyi many real Mikmaqs outside newfoundland do not accept them.
2023
The term ‘pretendian’ has popped up: it’s a combination of pretend and Indian.
The most notable example recently is that of Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a former judge, former B.C. Representative for Children and Youth, and former law professor (most recently at UBC Law).
Images
Image 1: first definition of pretendian on 15 Apr. 2007 by users ScoobyDooGang and N0WH3R3K1D.
Image 2: Use of pretendian during Twitter campaign to smear US Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Image 3: Tweet announcing CSA win of documentary titled The Pretendians from Drew Hayden Taylor @TheDHTaylor, 22 Feb. 2023.
