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Alright everybody.

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 You ready for this? I'm Drew

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 Hayden Taylor an anishinaabe author and

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 playwright from Curve Lake first nation in my

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 travels. I've seen the good side and the

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 bad side of being indigenous.

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But here's the weird thing when I

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 was a kid, some of my people tried to hide their indigenous

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 past and in some cases being a

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 white passing native guy was a blessing back then but

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 things have changed now a veritable

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 Cornucopia of people want to be indigenous.

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Media reports are full of them from celebrated novelists.

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 I have always said very clearly and

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 carefully a small part of me is indigenous, but it's

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 a big part of who I am to acclaimed film directors filmmaker

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 Michelle Latimer. She came under Fire after questions arose

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 about her claimed indigenous Heritage and even

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 a University of Saskatchewan indigenous health

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 expert was fired for being a pretend Indian.

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You know that old settler term Indian giver. My

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 name is Morning Star bear.

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I'm just gonna say I'm emotional. Well

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 today we have Indian takers.

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So from identity theft to counterfeit art.

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 This is the indigenous Chucky and from stolen

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 Indian tax benefits.

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They sold thousands and thousands of these cards

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 to last jobs meant for real natives in

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 this way. They are literally erasing Us by replacing us.

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 Why are there so many fake Indians

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 these days. Is it all about money and

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 jobs or is there something deeper going

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 on?

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I need to understand the pretendions.

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So why do so

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 many non-native people want to join our powwow

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 by claiming indigenous identity?

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Now this is one of those DNA kits that seem to be

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 so popular lately supposedly it will

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 tell you all the Dirty Deeds your ancestors were up to

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 and for those seeking some sort of cultural salvation within

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 their 23 sets of chromosomes. This could

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 give them the answer. And since I'm a little curious as

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 to my own indigenous percentage. I'm gonna

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 take this spit into the tube and mail

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 it off.

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And see where it takes me you might

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 want to look away for this.

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Well, if I'm going to be exploring the pretendian

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 phenomenon, I guess I better start by

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 establishing my own indigenous cred.

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Welcome to Curve Lake. This is

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 my community. I've lived here for almost 60 years. This is

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 the land of my people a whole and yet people still

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 say to me funny. You don't look Indian. You're not native. Are you?

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 Well, I am this is the community where I come from

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 and I want to take you on a tour of it. So you can understand who I

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 am and where my perspectives were born.

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This house is where I grew up till I was seven years old.

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Though it's been repurposed and renovated. This

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 is where I went to school the Mud

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 Lake Indian day school. So I learned my bacs and

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 this is where I get my res

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 gas.

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And behind me is the fairgrounds where we

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 put the wow in our pal IE our

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 power and this

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 puts the curve in Curve Lake actually, technically

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 it doesn't this is Shamong like there is no curve like

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 it's called Curve Lake because the lake curves around never mind.

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This is my house and it's a very very fine

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 house and within those four walls. I write

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 my stories about the First Nation communities of

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 this area.

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I'm Drew Hayden Taylor and I'm straight out of Curve Lake.

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So what's real or fake in the Indigenous world before?

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 I dig into what that means in terms of identity. I've

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 journeyed to the tourist hotspot of

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 gas town in the west coast city of Vancouver to investigate

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 the indigenous art scene.

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Every year tourists spent over a billion

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 dollars on indigenous themed art and souvenirs.

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but

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ours artists actually benefiting

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meet Francesca Fiona an investigative journalist

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 with discourse magazine

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She looked into Vancouver's lucrative art and souvenir

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 shops and made a worrisome discovery.

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We did an audit about three years ago. We visited

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 40 different shops. And what we found is that 75% of

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 the shops seem to be selling inauthentic art.

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 So we're gonna visit some of the tourist

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 shops in Gastown here and check out some of

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 the souvenirs that are being sold and do they know you're the

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 the reality please.

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And I don't think so. No, you're Incognito. Yeah,

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 we're gonna do some mystery shopping. All right. Well, let's go take a

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 look at what we can find sounds good. We'll need hidden camera

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 technology for this Mystery Shop.

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 I'm in a buying mood. So many

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 indigenous themed items so many stores so little

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 time.

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very catchy

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Oh, yeah. Oh look

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 at these. Yeah, this label is really

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 interesting too here. This is

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 this is the indigenous Chucky.

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Well, I think I know what I'm getting my partner for her birthday. Yeah.

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All right. I have a test for you. Okay. I want to see if

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 you can judge a couple of items I have

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 for their authenticity here.

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Let's start with this that looks

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 real to me.

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So I'm more of an experiment asking questions. And so

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 the first question that I would have here is if there's any information at

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 all about an artist because there are some

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 indigenous artists that will sell their designs and it can be

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 mass produced and they'll get royalties in this case. Yeah, there's

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 there's no information. This company was actually

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 one that we tried to contact multiple times. They didn't

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 respond. So this was categorized as inauthentic. Ah,

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 even though it says

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 Vancouver on the front even though yeah.

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inauthentic next on

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 our list

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Oh, I think Barbie has let herself go.

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What can you tell me about this? Well, so first

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 thing I'm looking for is the label and

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 they have some information. There's some kind of smallish

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 print here that actually says that this is

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 not authentic and that's because in

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 the United States, they actually have a law against selling fraudulent

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 indigenous art. And so that being

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 said, this is definitely not an authentic

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 piece of you're telling me this isn't a

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 real indigenous product.

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That's right. So what

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 makes an authentic indigenous item indigenous design?

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whether it's a unique carving or a mass-produced souvenir if

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 there's an indigenous artist behind it, then it's

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 authentic even the Museum of

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 Vancouver which has over 70,000 indigenous

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 items now displays mass-produced native

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 art in collaboration with authentic artists curator

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 Sharon Fortney shows me past examples

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 of fakes and some of the new pieces

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 they've acquired

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This stuff you've shown me has been appropriated by

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 the dominant culture to make money for themselves.

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These other objects have been made

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 with the cooperation of indigenous artists who have designed

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 them licensed their image out in sort of cooperation, right

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 see that they have his name on the label. They identify

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 what communities he's from. It's just, you know,

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 a really beautiful colorful contemporary expression

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 of identity. Yeah.

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So what tips does Francesca have for the Shopper who wants to

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 buy something authentic and meaningful to take home?

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One of the things that I heard from artists was that labels can

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 make a really big difference. Is there information on a

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 product that tells somebody who the artist is where they're

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 from and whether or not they're getting royalties. And so if you

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 are out there looking to buy something do a little

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 research and make sure that you are buying something authentic authenticity matters,

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 especially when it comes to that most iconic of

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 West Coast indigenous symbols the totem

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 pole.

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Totem pole forgeries can be found all over Canada, but

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 here in British Columbia their sacred

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 objects symbols of kinship Clan culture and

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 storytelling history. So how

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 much is at stake when that gets faked?

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I'm here in Chilliwack to explore that idea. I'm going to be talking

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 to a traditional Nishka Carver who has some

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 very strong ideas about who can and can't carve

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 a totem pole and why?

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My name is Mike dansley. My traditional name

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 has got some else. My clincit name is teeth clean. I'm an

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 artist and Carver and you're here in my studio in Chilliwack British

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 Columbia. Would you primarily known for like totem poles in math? I just

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 finished my 27th totem pole and I'm starting two more.

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Mike's totem poles aren't just pretty to look

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 at they anchor deep cultural meaning in

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 the places they inhabit but there are a lot of other totem

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 poles out there that might not have the same kind

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 of heritage.

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Now in today's society. There are people out there

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 who shall we say practice what you practice but

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 you might argue that they don't respect what they're

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 doing. So for from when I started doing the art,

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 I spent a year learning how to draw I spent

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 a year sweeping the floor sharpening the knives but I

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 also spent all that time with my grandfather since I was very

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 young learning our adowa our oral history. Are you

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 our laws?

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Those laws apply to the whole create a process even

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 before Mike picks out a piece of wood.

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We have to know that a dollar we have to know the history

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 before we can go and do just anything say

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 I don't know. What Clan you are Otter

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 Otter. Okay. So for me to do a piece for you, I would

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 have to understand that thoroughly. I would have to study otter

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 Clan to do artwork for you. I'd have to ask you a

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 bunch of questions. It's just like writing you can't just tell a

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 story without knowing your subject matter, right? So there's a lot of artists that

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 unfortunately haven't received that education

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 and they're creating art that they

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 have no business doing

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brings to mind a totem pole. That's just a short

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 drive from my Reserve at a park in Peterborough, Ontario. It

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 was carved by an anishinaabe artist.

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I myself ammunitionabe. And unless

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 I missed something in anishinaabe class. We don't

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 have a totem pole tradition.

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So is this native on Native cultural

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 appropriation? The totem pole

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 was skillfully handcrafted by a local artist of Hiawatha

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 First Nation it was designed with care.

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What would Mike think of this well-intentioned imitation?

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I think people who aren't.

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trained in that way

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Who aren't West Coast?

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No matter how much they want to honor it and how

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 much they love it.

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Still doesn't give them those rights in that privilege. Okay lesson

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 learned, but will things

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 be as clear cut when we stop exploring fake native art

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 and move on to fake indigenous identity.

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Hell no skin color isn't a good indicator when looking

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 into fake indigenous identity claims. So what

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 about blood Quantum or the amount of native blood coursing

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 through one's veins how much is enough

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 in Orca answer

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 this conundrum. I propose an experiment using both red wine

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 and white wine.

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So for obvious metaphoric and symbolic reasoning this

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 glass of wine will represent my people and

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 this represents.

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white people

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now pay attention. There may be some math involved.

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I'm going to take a couple drops of this red blood.

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And deposit them into one to two thousand drops

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 of white blood.

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Now those couple drops in there, are they enough to

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 qualify you as indigenous?

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To me the math is simple. No.

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But for some people it seems that's

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 a subjective question. Like how many drops of

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 rain does it take to get me wet when I arrive at the University of

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 Montreal?

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This is grown zero for an explosion of indigenous ancestry

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 claims in Eastern Canada. Why Lisa

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 Dylan is a historic demographer and

254
00:13:17.900 --> 00:13:18.900
 she may have the answer.

255
00:13:19.900 --> 00:13:22.100
And I was told this University as one of

256
00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:25.500
 the best archives compiled for such a

257
00:13:25.500 --> 00:13:29.300
 thing. Is that true? Yes, we have the logistical apoplacion.

258
00:13:28.300 --> 00:13:32.300
 Gibeca, which is a database a

259
00:13:31.300 --> 00:13:34.500
 couple of million individuals who

260
00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:38.500
 lived in the Quebec Colony since 1621 the

261
00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:40.400
 Catholic Church produced a

262
00:13:40.400 --> 00:13:43.200
 very comprehensive set of baptismal marriage

263
00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:46.400
 and burial records. We have first and

264
00:13:46.400 --> 00:13:49.700
 last name of the parents and the child and dates and

265
00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:52.900
 places. So it's possible to reconstruct a

266
00:13:52.900 --> 00:13:55.100
 comprehensive genealogy. There are a

267
00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:58.800
 lot of people who are claiming indigenous Heritage based on

268
00:13:59.800 --> 00:14:02.700
A lone ancestor sometime

269
00:14:02.700 --> 00:14:05.800
 in the 16 or 17 hundreds you

270
00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:08.000
 come across that frequently. Well most.

271
00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:09.100
frenchmanians

272
00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:14.400
do that when you look at all of their ancestors, the

273
00:14:14.400 --> 00:14:17.700
 weight of that ancestor is a very small percentage

274
00:14:17.700 --> 00:14:20.200
 of their genetic makeup. Just a drop in

275
00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.500
 a bucket It's a larger bucket it is it is I'm having

276
00:14:23.500 --> 00:14:26.800
 trouble picturing what that bucket looks like, but fortunately

277
00:14:26.800 --> 00:14:29.700
 Lisa has a really effective visual

278
00:14:29.700 --> 00:14:32.300
 aid. This is a really

279
00:14:32.300 --> 00:14:35.800
 good visualization of 10 Generations. So we're

280
00:14:35.800 --> 00:14:39.300
 talking this would cover about 300 350

281
00:14:38.300 --> 00:14:41.300
 years. Yes. So we start at the core and

282
00:14:41.300 --> 00:14:44.700
 these are the parents and then each concentric Circle that

283
00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:47.900
 moves outwards is another generation of ancestors.

284
00:14:47.900 --> 00:14:50.700
 How many would you say are here represented here?

285
00:14:50.700 --> 00:14:53.600
 Like are we talking to 300 people a few

286
00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.400
 a few thousand a few thousand people and if

287
00:14:56.400 --> 00:14:59.800
 one person happens to be that native person

288
00:14:59.800 --> 00:15:02.000
 in the 16 1700, that would be

289
00:15:02.200 --> 00:15:05.900
 one name out of several thousand ancestors. Yes, the proverbial

290
00:15:05.900 --> 00:15:08.500
 needle in Haystack exactly that be

291
00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:09.400
 a needle in a haystack.

292
00:15:10.400 --> 00:15:13.900
Do you think you might have an indigenous needle in that Haystack?

293
00:15:13.900 --> 00:15:16.400
 It's not as hard to find out as you'd think.

294
00:15:17.400 --> 00:15:20.300
Now all of the microfilms have been transferred to a

295
00:15:20.300 --> 00:15:23.700
 digital image, which is available on our genealogical

296
00:15:23.700 --> 00:15:26.200
 website. And anyone in the world can consult them.

297
00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:27.300
 They're available online.

298
00:15:28.300 --> 00:15:31.500
Since the early 2000s tens of thousands

299
00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:35.300
 of people from Quebec and The Maritime Provinces have scoured

300
00:15:34.300 --> 00:15:37.200
 these archives in an attempt

301
00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:40.400
 to claim indigeneity. There has been a reported

302
00:15:40.400 --> 00:15:44.500
 explosion of people calling themselves Eastern

303
00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:44.900
 métis.

304
00:15:46.400 --> 00:15:49.100
In Quebec. The increase has been from about 15,000 people

305
00:15:49.100 --> 00:15:52.500
 who identifying as métis to about 70,000 if

306
00:15:52.500 --> 00:15:55.500
 we look at Nova Scotia. The increase has gone

307
00:15:55.500 --> 00:16:00.700
 from 830 and 1996 to 23,315.

308
00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:04.300
For the record Being métis doesn't just mean

309
00:16:04.300 --> 00:16:07.500
 having mixed blood and the leadership of

310
00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:10.600
 the real May Teen Nation of Manitoba is up

311
00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:13.600
 in arms about it. You can't just pop up tomorrow and

312
00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.200
 see your maintain. That's what's been happening Eastern Canada starting to happen

313
00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:19.600
 Ontario. We are facing Invasion a main

314
00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:22.600
 tea person actually has to be connected to a

315
00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:25.800
 historic Mayte community that has continued

316
00:16:25.800 --> 00:16:28.400
 into present day and there is by

317
00:16:28.400 --> 00:16:31.800
 all research and historical accounts never been

318
00:16:31.800 --> 00:16:34.800
 made tea communities in The Maritime Provinces

319
00:16:34.800 --> 00:16:37.500
 in migma territory ever and that's

320
00:16:37.500 --> 00:16:38.700
 pretty conclusive.

321
00:16:40.900 --> 00:16:43.000
The fact is thousands of

322
00:16:43.300 --> 00:16:46.800
 these new claims point back here to these archives and

323
00:16:46.800 --> 00:16:50.500
 a handful of families who lived in the mid 1600s.

324
00:16:51.300 --> 00:16:54.800
So we have been investigating the stories of the Eastern mate

325
00:16:54.800 --> 00:16:56.000
 tea who are claiming.

326
00:16:57.500 --> 00:17:01.100
Certain indigenous rights based on having substantial

327
00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:04.800
 indigenous Heritage and you're saying that's mathematically unlikely.

328
00:17:04.800 --> 00:17:07.100
 It's mathematically impossible to say

329
00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:11.500
Indigenous Heritage if your heritage is from this

330
00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:14.800
 French Canadian Catholic population there ancestral

331
00:17:14.800 --> 00:17:17.600
 heritage may have a small

332
00:17:17.600 --> 00:17:20.600
 1% 2% representation of

333
00:17:20.600 --> 00:17:23.500
 indigenous peoples, but they are trying

334
00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:27.200
 to leverage that that representation that

335
00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:30.100
 small percentage to ask for

336
00:17:29.100 --> 00:17:32.500
 benefits today and that's

337
00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:33.200
 a big leap.

338
00:17:34.600 --> 00:17:37.300
So why has there been such an explosion of

339
00:17:37.300 --> 00:17:40.600
 new status claims? That's a hotly contested

340
00:17:40.600 --> 00:17:43.600
 question. But after my research, I've

341
00:17:43.600 --> 00:17:46.600
 come up with several reasons first the

342
00:17:46.600 --> 00:17:49.900
 Supreme Court of Canada's 1999 Marshall

343
00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:52.600
 decision granted expanded fishing

344
00:17:52.600 --> 00:17:54.100
 and hunting rights to natives.

345
00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:57.200
If you're white wouldn't you want those rights?

346
00:17:58.300 --> 00:18:01.700
Second white settler guilt as more Canadians

347
00:18:01.700 --> 00:18:04.400
 question how their ancestors have treated native people

348
00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:07.200
 and their land claims more folks are seeking to

349
00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:11.000
 be on the indigenous side and third benefits

350
00:18:10.800 --> 00:18:14.000
 to deal with historic injustices tax

351
00:18:13.800 --> 00:18:16.400
 education and job subsidies have

352
00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:19.500
 been granted to Native people to try and even the playing

353
00:18:19.500 --> 00:18:22.700
 field. One of my favorites is cheap res

354
00:18:22.700 --> 00:18:25.200
 gas when you flash your status card at

355
00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:25.400
 the pump.

356
00:18:26.300 --> 00:18:29.800
Perhaps unsurprisingly that particular perk has

357
00:18:29.800 --> 00:18:32.300
 led to fake status cards.

358
00:18:33.100 --> 00:18:36.900
And they're probably isn't another person in Canada who has

359
00:18:36.900 --> 00:18:39.000
 seen more of them than this man. My name is

360
00:18:39.300 --> 00:18:42.400
 Rick obsoen. I'm the chief of the Abenaki nation of odonac.

361
00:18:47.300 --> 00:18:50.500
Welcome to Rick's organic gas station and that

362
00:18:50.500 --> 00:18:53.100
 innocent looking counter over there can be the

363
00:18:53.100 --> 00:18:57.400
 front lines in the battle between authentic and inauthentic status

364
00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:57.800
 cards.

365
00:18:58.800 --> 00:19:01.300
So what she's doing there? She's verifying the card that it's

366
00:19:01.300 --> 00:19:01.700
 a real card.

367
00:19:04.500 --> 00:19:07.900
These cards became a very very big problem their self-proclaiming

368
00:19:07.900 --> 00:19:10.600
 that they're native that they have native ancestry

369
00:19:10.600 --> 00:19:13.300
 and here's my card to prove it and who

370
00:19:13.300 --> 00:19:16.100
 creates these cars whether they where can I get one? Yeah. Yeah. Well, you can

371
00:19:16.100 --> 00:19:19.500
 buy them you can there was a group called the native Alliance

372
00:19:19.500 --> 00:19:23.100
 and this could cost you about 350 dollars. They sold thousands

373
00:19:22.100 --> 00:19:27.900
 and thousands of these cards of people

374
00:19:27.900 --> 00:19:30.100
 who spent 350 dollars on these

375
00:19:30.100 --> 00:19:33.400
 cards where parently miffed when they were told they still

376
00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:34.800
 had to pay gas tax.

377
00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:38.100
Rick had to develop a clear-cut system to turn

378
00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:41.800
 them down without getting into a big argument every

379
00:19:41.800 --> 00:19:42.000
 time.

380
00:19:43.600 --> 00:19:46.200
So the way this works is if someone comes with a card

381
00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:49.100
 that's not a real card. What we had to do what she has to

382
00:19:49.100 --> 00:19:52.600
 do. Is she turns and says to them. These are the cards we accept we do

383
00:19:52.600 --> 00:19:53.600
 not accept any other card.

384
00:19:54.300 --> 00:19:57.900
There was a real time period where it was happening almost every second

385
00:19:57.900 --> 00:19:58.100
 day.

386
00:19:58.800 --> 00:20:01.200
The more and more that we've been putting these type of

387
00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:05.000
 systems in place. We see it less and less today. So why

388
00:20:04.500 --> 00:20:07.400
 don't reservation gas station owners, just

389
00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:10.500
 let it slide once in a while. Nobody likes

390
00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:14.000
 paying tax at the pumps after all. Well, it's never

391
00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:15.200
 a victim that's crime.

392
00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:19.400
This is trying to do right thing, you know a native comes in. They got a card.

393
00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:22.300
 Okay. I'm supposed to give them tax exempt, you know, so they're trying

394
00:20:22.300 --> 00:20:22.900
 to do the right thing.

395
00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:26.200
The problem comes in is that the obligation is on the business?

396
00:20:27.100 --> 00:20:30.200
So if these cards are fake the business can in turn be charged

397
00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:33.100
 attacks and you'll never find this customer chase them down

398
00:20:33.100 --> 00:20:37.100
 Rick owns an operates five businesses and

399
00:20:36.100 --> 00:20:39.800
 as chief he tries to educate business

400
00:20:39.800 --> 00:20:42.100
 owners because the stakes get a lot

401
00:20:42.100 --> 00:20:45.800
 bigger than a tank of gas. Think about the taxi spin

402
00:20:45.800 --> 00:20:48.500
 when you buy say a shiny

403
00:20:48.500 --> 00:20:51.400
 new truck the law states that if anything

404
00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:54.200
 is delivered to the reservation, it's tax exempt.

405
00:20:54.900 --> 00:20:57.000
Union actors clear at that. So these guys go to

406
00:20:57.300 --> 00:21:00.500
 a car lot they buy a car and they said can you deliver it to the closest Reserve so

407
00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:03.400
 they come here they parked in front of my building here. They take a picture of their

408
00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:06.000
 car in front of my sign and they sign off they don't have to pay tax.

409
00:21:07.100 --> 00:21:08.400
But meanwhile their card wasn't real.

410
00:21:09.300 --> 00:21:13.100
So we've had to do is we've had to educate a lot of the car lots. God is

411
00:21:12.100 --> 00:21:15.200
 from here to sherbrook telling them what a real card

412
00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:18.500
 was and if they were going to deliver a vehicle or snowmobile or

413
00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:21.200
 anything to my community. They need to contact us first.

414
00:21:22.600 --> 00:21:23.400
We have caught.

415
00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:27.700
Oh god, I've got to say over a hundred people with

416
00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:30.300
 fake years right here. Okay, and I'll

417
00:21:30.300 --> 00:21:34.200
 tell the dealership. It's a fake card get off my property or or

418
00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:35.500
 I'm gonna call the police.

419
00:21:36.800 --> 00:21:39.600
Rick ever the businessman has taken a

420
00:21:39.600 --> 00:21:42.800
 hard-nosed stance on Indian status and who can

421
00:21:42.800 --> 00:21:45.300
 benefit from it. But what happens when

422
00:21:45.300 --> 00:21:48.600
 we choose to adopt a settler into one of our communities.

423
00:21:48.600 --> 00:21:51.800
 Should they benefit too even that

424
00:21:51.800 --> 00:21:52.700
 can be complicated?

425
00:21:53.600 --> 00:21:56.500
Prior to 1985 any white woman

426
00:21:56.500 --> 00:21:59.700
 that married an indigenous man was legally granted status

427
00:21:59.700 --> 00:22:02.100
 that status remained even

428
00:22:02.100 --> 00:22:04.400
 after divorce or death of the husband.

429
00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:08.700
Back home and Curve Lake my journalist friend. Angela

430
00:22:08.700 --> 00:22:11.400
 Lavallee wants to break Bannock over this issue.

431
00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:15.400
Angela has strong opinions about what marrying into

432
00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:18.900
 a First Nation should entitle you to in my

433
00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:21.800
 mind if there was a marriage breakdown the

434
00:22:21.800 --> 00:22:22.400
 woman should

435
00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:26.400
relinquish her status because she is not

436
00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:29.100
 Indian. You can't tell there's just like this it drives me

437
00:22:29.100 --> 00:22:32.100
 insane. It's like you're married when you if you married a German

438
00:22:32.100 --> 00:22:35.100
 woman tomorrow, would you be Germany? No, I would not be so if you

439
00:22:35.100 --> 00:22:38.400
 married somebody from Mexico, would you be Mexican I would

440
00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:41.400
 not be would you go around saying I'm a Mexican. No, would you

441
00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:44.100
 cook Mexican I might

442
00:22:45.100 --> 00:22:48.600
so if you cook Mexican, would that make you a Mexican? No, it

443
00:22:48.600 --> 00:22:48.700
 would not.

444
00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:52.400
For Angela when people marry into a First Nation,

445
00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:55.300
 they should not receive the financial benefits of

446
00:22:55.300 --> 00:22:58.800
 being a status Indian like the 2018 Williams

447
00:22:58.800 --> 00:23:01.500
 treaty payout which was awarded to my people

448
00:23:01.500 --> 00:23:04.600
 for the land. We lost when the Trent Severn Waterway was

449
00:23:04.600 --> 00:23:05.000
 created.

450
00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:10.500
Their ancestors did not go through the horrific

451
00:23:09.500 --> 00:23:12.200
 times of the when the

452
00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:15.500
 Williams treaty was being you know, negotiated you're

453
00:23:15.500 --> 00:23:18.600
 saying they're like just passengers in the car. They are

454
00:23:18.600 --> 00:23:21.800
 visitors visitors wives husbands. Yes

455
00:23:21.800 --> 00:23:24.300
 part of the community. Yes, but not

456
00:23:24.300 --> 00:23:27.500
 a missionabe. I believe that the Williams treaty

457
00:23:27.500 --> 00:23:30.100
 money should have went to Williams treaty people and that's it.

458
00:23:31.700 --> 00:23:35.700
There has to be a line somewhere, right? Yes lines

459
00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:38.000
 need to be drawn. But unfortunately

460
00:23:37.800 --> 00:23:40.900
 for too many years they've been

461
00:23:40.900 --> 00:23:43.000
 erased even at one of

462
00:23:43.600 --> 00:23:45.300
 Canada's most prestigious universities.

463
00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:52.000
Thank you, when it

464
00:23:51.300 --> 00:23:54.700
 comes to pretend Indians, the problem

465
00:23:54.700 --> 00:23:58.500
 doesn't stop at the Canadian border pretendians

466
00:23:57.500 --> 00:24:00.400
 are a huge problem in the

467
00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:03.200
 US and this North Carolina Cherokee Woman

468
00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:07.000
 has had enough of it. My name is Liana Constantino,

469
00:24:06.600 --> 00:24:09.300
 and I am the director of Taft the

470
00:24:09.300 --> 00:24:10.000
 tribal Alliance.

471
00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:11.300
we

472
00:24:11.800 --> 00:24:15.100
call it fraud because that's what it is. It is actually theft and

473
00:24:14.100 --> 00:24:17.900
 fraud identity theft and fraud. So

474
00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:21.000
 when people steal from our cultures, they

475
00:24:20.300 --> 00:24:23.300
 end up distorting our cultures into something

476
00:24:23.300 --> 00:24:27.300
 that we don't even recognize in this way. They are literally erasing

477
00:24:26.300 --> 00:24:28.400
 Us by replacing us.

478
00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:32.900
Leanna took up this calling because the Cherokee her tribe

479
00:24:32.900 --> 00:24:35.700
 is the most frequently impersonated by

480
00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:37.300
 fraudsters in America.

481
00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:41.600
There is a group of white people in Georgia pretending to

482
00:24:41.600 --> 00:24:44.600
 be a Cherokee tribe who prints their own Cherokee

483
00:24:44.600 --> 00:24:47.600
 money and opened up their own Cherokee bank. They have no political

484
00:24:47.600 --> 00:24:50.000
 or racial ties whatsoever to the

485
00:24:50.600 --> 00:24:53.500
 Cherokee People and being Cherokee means appearing on

486
00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:56.300
 the original census roles, which are governed by

487
00:24:56.300 --> 00:24:59.100
 the tribe itself. So if you claim to have a

488
00:24:59.100 --> 00:25:02.800
 Cherokee ancestor, we ask for that ancestor

489
00:25:02.800 --> 00:25:05.300
 who was born between 1890 and

490
00:25:05.300 --> 00:25:08.300
 1940. We connect you to them and then we connect

491
00:25:08.300 --> 00:25:11.800
 them back and see if they were on any of our Cherokee roles.

492
00:25:11.800 --> 00:25:14.800
 If we find out that they were terrific, you

493
00:25:14.800 --> 00:25:17.300
 know, that's a non-issue at that point. If we find out

494
00:25:17.300 --> 00:25:20.200
 that they were not we inform the person and let them

495
00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:23.300
 know that you have no connection to the Cherokee tribe

496
00:25:23.300 --> 00:25:26.800
 or the Cherokee People, you know, just don't go forward continuing to

497
00:25:26.800 --> 00:25:29.600
 claim that you're Cherokee based on an unfounded

498
00:25:29.600 --> 00:25:32.000
 family myth that nobody ever bothered to check out.

499
00:25:33.100 --> 00:25:36.000
So why do so many people falsely claim to be

500
00:25:36.800 --> 00:25:39.700
 Cherokee? Some people do it for financial gain, they

501
00:25:39.700 --> 00:25:42.800
 discover that they can get all kinds of benefits by

502
00:25:42.800 --> 00:25:46.000
 claiming to be a minority-owned business students get

503
00:25:45.600 --> 00:25:48.400
 scholarships from universities by ticking a

504
00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:51.100
 box that says they're indigenous or Native American

505
00:25:51.100 --> 00:25:54.200
 and they don't have to prove anything. They just take that

506
00:25:54.200 --> 00:25:57.600
 box apply for the scholarship get it. Nobody checks. Nobody knows

507
00:25:57.600 --> 00:25:58.300
 how to check.

508
00:25:58.900 --> 00:26:01.800
It's one thing to vet a student. But what

509
00:26:01.800 --> 00:26:05.000
 about a prestigious University Professor whose claimed

510
00:26:04.500 --> 00:26:07.100
 Cherokee roots for over 30 years?

511
00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:11.300
We at Taft heard about Robert Lovelace at Queen's University

512
00:26:11.300 --> 00:26:14.300
 last year in June of 2021 when that open

513
00:26:14.300 --> 00:26:17.700
 letter came out about the pretendian fraud at Queens.

514
00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:21.500
We did his genealogy. We had his genealogy confirmed

515
00:26:21.500 --> 00:26:24.800
 with all three Cherokee federally recognized tribes. I

516
00:26:24.800 --> 00:26:27.300
 have letters from all three of them in my possession that say

517
00:26:27.300 --> 00:26:30.500
 he has zero Cherokee ancestry zero kinship

518
00:26:30.500 --> 00:26:33.500
 with us. No tribal Community Connection whatsoever. We

519
00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:36.400
 don't know who this person is claiming to be a Cherokee up

520
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:39.600
 in Canada. Did he have to go all the way to Canada to claim to be Cherokee and

521
00:26:39.600 --> 00:26:40.000
 get away with it?

522
00:26:40.900 --> 00:26:43.000
He's not getting away with it any longer. We're done waiting.

523
00:26:44.300 --> 00:26:47.500
The tribal alliance against frauds is small But

524
00:26:47.500 --> 00:26:50.400
 Mighty and they have a travel budget.

525
00:26:51.100 --> 00:26:54.400
I meet Leanna and Kingston Ontario where she's come on a

526
00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:56.800
 mission to confront Robert Lovelace.

527
00:26:57.400 --> 00:26:59.900
What do you think Robert's response is going to be?

528
00:27:00.600 --> 00:27:03.400
Typically what we see in pretendians like Robert

529
00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:06.300
 is that they scurry and hide they will come up

530
00:27:06.300 --> 00:27:09.300
 with all kinds of excuses as to why they don't want to talk to us,

531
00:27:09.300 --> 00:27:12.500
 which is I think what we're seeing here, but I could be wrong. Have

532
00:27:12.500 --> 00:27:15.500
 you tried to contact him prior to coming up here? We did. I

533
00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:19.100
 wrote him a letter two weeks ago. He has not responded. I will

534
00:27:19.100 --> 00:27:22.200
 try to reach out to him tomorrow if he's willing to talk and I

535
00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:25.400
 think that he will not come clean because he cannot

536
00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:28.500
 come clean he he has no proof of anything

537
00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:30.700
 if he did he would have shown it by now.

538
00:27:31.800 --> 00:27:34.700
Hi, this is Leanna Constantino of Taft

539
00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:37.200
 the tribal alliance against frauds and I

540
00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:40.600
 was wondering would Mr. Lovelace be available tomorrow for a

541
00:27:40.600 --> 00:27:40.900
 short visit.

542
00:27:42.800 --> 00:27:45.500
As Liana stuffs letters and the Census Data

543
00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:48.400
 proving to Queen's University that Bob Lovelace has

544
00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:51.700
 no Cherokee blood in him. The story gets even

545
00:27:51.700 --> 00:27:54.700
 weirder since immigrating to Canada in

546
00:27:54.700 --> 00:27:57.200
 1969 Mr. Lovelace has gained

547
00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:00.500
 a powerful indigenous Voice by helping to establish

548
00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:04.000
 a new Algonquin First Nation even serving

549
00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:06.200
 as it's Chief. My name

550
00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:07.200
 is Robert Lovelace.

551
00:28:08.300 --> 00:28:10.600
I'm a member of the ardoc Algonquin First Nation.

552
00:28:11.400 --> 00:28:15.100
As an indigenous community in the Ottawa Valley of Canada.

553
00:28:15.800 --> 00:28:18.800
But ardoch is not federally recognized and

554
00:28:18.800 --> 00:28:21.900
 many status Algonquins like veldon Coburn

555
00:28:21.900 --> 00:28:24.800
 think that ardox voice and existence should

556
00:28:24.800 --> 00:28:27.100
 be questioned. So this

557
00:28:27.100 --> 00:28:30.300
 erdog first nation as they're now calling themselves is

558
00:28:30.300 --> 00:28:33.900
 not really a geographically territorily bounds

559
00:28:33.900 --> 00:28:36.300
 sort of First Nation as it were I mean,

560
00:28:36.300 --> 00:28:39.200
 the closest thing to an ardoc is like a little Hamlet out

561
00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:42.600
 in the middle nowhere which isn't actually populated or

562
00:28:42.600 --> 00:28:45.200
 governed by Algonquin or indigenous people.

563
00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:49.200
 So based on what you told me. It's not recognized by

564
00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:51.500
 your nation or any Nation.

565
00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:54.300
 No, even those that are non-status First

566
00:28:54.300 --> 00:28:57.300
 Nations, they don't recognize me there. So yeah, no

567
00:28:57.300 --> 00:29:00.200
 one no one recognizes them. Have you ever been there? Never?

568
00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:03.800
Well, I thought I'd go check it out.

569
00:29:04.700 --> 00:29:05.500
There's a road.

570
00:29:06.300 --> 00:29:07.900
a house or two

571
00:29:09.800 --> 00:29:10.900
and a mailbox

572
00:29:12.600 --> 00:29:15.400
It doesn't feel like a living breathing First

573
00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:18.600
 Nation Community to me and I should know. I've

574
00:29:18.600 --> 00:29:21.900
 been to over a hundred and fifty of them. So what

575
00:29:21.900 --> 00:29:23.400
 is ardoc?

576
00:29:24.200 --> 00:29:27.300
It actually just doesn't exist physically. So it exists as a

577
00:29:27.300 --> 00:29:27.900
 website. It's

578
00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:31.100
it's a Facebook page and all you have

579
00:29:31.100 --> 00:29:34.200
 to do to become a member of the ardoc and allies First Nation or

580
00:29:34.200 --> 00:29:37.300
 what have you is sign a one-page membership self-declaration form

581
00:29:37.300 --> 00:29:40.800
 velden isn't the only Algonquin angry

582
00:29:40.800 --> 00:29:43.300
 about ardoc meet Lynn Gail

583
00:29:43.300 --> 00:29:46.300
 who spent 32 years fighting the federal government

584
00:29:46.300 --> 00:29:49.700
 to gain her own Algonquin status yet has

585
00:29:49.700 --> 00:29:52.600
 seen people using dubious links to the ardoc First

586
00:29:52.600 --> 00:29:56.300
 Nation to gain positions of power particularly at

587
00:29:55.300 --> 00:29:57.900
 universities like Queens.

588
00:29:59.500 --> 00:30:02.600
I'm really not happy with the fact that

589
00:30:02.600 --> 00:30:05.300
 pretendians they have

590
00:30:05.300 --> 00:30:06.500
 my skin in the game.

591
00:30:08.100 --> 00:30:09.600
They have my skin in the game.

592
00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:11.400
They didn't live my life.

593
00:30:12.300 --> 00:30:15.700
and race does matter they're taking opportunities not

594
00:30:15.700 --> 00:30:17.700
 only job opportunities from us, but they

595
00:30:19.100 --> 00:30:22.400
Are barrier they're making a lot of decisions about who

596
00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:25.700
 gets into programs who get scholarship who

597
00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:28.300
 gets to have research dollars and it's

598
00:30:28.300 --> 00:30:32.400
 really important that we allow Algonquins to shape Algonquin

599
00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:35.500
 knowledge production not pretend Indians. They

600
00:30:34.500 --> 00:30:37.600
 shouldn't be professors. They shouldn't be getting scholarships

601
00:30:37.600 --> 00:30:39.700
 that are intended for indigenous people.

602
00:30:40.900 --> 00:30:43.900
While Lynn is troubled about the way false Algonquin

603
00:30:43.900 --> 00:30:47.600
 claims are impacting places like Queens University. Liana

604
00:30:46.600 --> 00:30:49.700
 Constantino is equally concerned

605
00:30:49.700 --> 00:30:52.600
 how our own Cherokee tribe is being maligned

606
00:30:52.600 --> 00:30:53.700
 for the same reasons.

607
00:30:54.800 --> 00:30:57.300
All of those students are thinking. Oh I'm taking

608
00:30:57.300 --> 00:31:00.800
 this doctoral level course on indigenity with Robert

609
00:31:00.800 --> 00:31:03.500
 Lovelace the Cherokee Elder. He is

610
00:31:03.500 --> 00:31:06.800
 speaking from the perspective of a white man playing Indian. He

611
00:31:06.800 --> 00:31:09.600
 has no Cherokee perspective. He never

612
00:31:09.600 --> 00:31:12.300
 lived Among Us. He never had a

613
00:31:12.300 --> 00:31:15.200
 Cherokee family who taught him Cherokee culture or language

614
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:18.500
 or anything like that. So all of those students

615
00:31:18.500 --> 00:31:19.800
 are being defrauded.

616
00:31:20.700 --> 00:31:23.600
So how does the Robert Lovelace story

617
00:31:23.600 --> 00:31:26.300
 end our numerous requests to have Robert

618
00:31:26.300 --> 00:31:29.900
 lovely speak on camera for this film were declined.

619
00:31:29.900 --> 00:31:32.400
 So Leanna hits Queen's campus with

620
00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:35.700
 her Cherokee tribal letters and genealogical data

621
00:31:35.700 --> 00:31:39.200
 hoping for a response from Mr. Lovelace. Hello.

622
00:31:38.200 --> 00:31:42.000
 I was wondering if Robert Lovelace

623
00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:42.700
 might be around.

624
00:31:45.400 --> 00:31:48.500
I would so much rather be sitting at home beating

625
00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:52.300
 or volunteering for the Red Cross or a

626
00:31:51.300 --> 00:31:55.300
 dozen other things cooking reading than

627
00:31:54.300 --> 00:31:57.300
 having to do this shouldn't be

628
00:31:57.300 --> 00:31:57.900
 necessary.

629
00:31:59.500 --> 00:32:02.400
But here we are your call is being transferred to

630
00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:05.300
 an attendant because the owner of this mailbox is not

631
00:32:05.300 --> 00:32:06.000
 accepting messages.

632
00:32:08.100 --> 00:32:10.400
So toxic and it needs to stop.

633
00:32:11.300 --> 00:32:15.000
We need better laws. We need more recognition. It's

634
00:32:14.200 --> 00:32:17.500
 just not okay that people tried to exterminate us

635
00:32:17.500 --> 00:32:18.600
 and now they're trying to be us.

636
00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:20.200
Doesn't fly.

637
00:32:21.500 --> 00:32:24.200
Robert Lovelace was outed over a year ago as a

638
00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:27.400
 fraud. The university has done nothing about it during the past year.

639
00:32:27.400 --> 00:32:29.900
 What should the University have done the

640
00:32:31.500 --> 00:32:34.000
Diversity of Saskatchewan did with Carrie Barraza.

641
00:32:34.600 --> 00:32:35.700
Forced him to resign.

642
00:32:36.500 --> 00:32:39.400
Yes that same Carrie Brasa.

643
00:32:39.400 --> 00:32:42.700
 You saw earlier in this film her story and others

644
00:32:42.700 --> 00:32:45.900
 like it had made national headlines and forced Canadian

645
00:32:45.900 --> 00:32:47.500
 institutions to react.

646
00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:51.800
After liana's visit the Queens the university released

647
00:32:51.800 --> 00:32:54.500
 an advisory report that they had commissioned on

648
00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:57.700
 these issues. It acknowledges the odd

649
00:32:57.700 --> 00:33:00.800
 relationship between Queen's University and an

650
00:33:00.800 --> 00:33:03.400
 entity calling themselves ardoch and goes

651
00:33:03.400 --> 00:33:06.700
 on to say ardoc is not a First Nation despite

652
00:33:06.700 --> 00:33:09.100
 it positioning itself as such.

653
00:33:10.300 --> 00:33:13.100
Robert lovelace's name does not appear in the

654
00:33:13.100 --> 00:33:16.200
 report. And as of now he is still

655
00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:17.400
 employed by the University.

656
00:33:20.500 --> 00:33:23.400
When it comes to the pretendian issue have we

657
00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:26.100
 gone too far and trying to out people?

658
00:33:27.300 --> 00:33:31.000
Let's just say things are getting intense. There are

659
00:33:30.100 --> 00:33:33.300
 even lists circulating all through the social media

660
00:33:33.300 --> 00:33:36.200
 of supposed pretendians put together

661
00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:39.900
 by Anonymous sources, and it's impacting real people.

662
00:33:41.400 --> 00:33:44.400
One of those people is Cindy Baskin a social

663
00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:47.600
 work Professor who's been employed for 25 years at

664
00:33:47.600 --> 00:33:50.900
 Toronto metropolitan University. Formerly Ryerson

665
00:33:50.900 --> 00:33:53.700
 University last year a list

666
00:33:53.700 --> 00:33:56.700
 called pretendians for hire was published anonymously

667
00:33:56.700 --> 00:33:59.300
 online and Cindy was on it.

668
00:33:59.800 --> 00:34:02.300
That led to a petition demanding. She lose

669
00:34:02.300 --> 00:34:05.300
 her job. I've come to hear her side of

670
00:34:05.300 --> 00:34:05.700
 the story.

671
00:34:06.800 --> 00:34:08.900
All right. Let's deal with the moose in the room.

672
00:34:10.700 --> 00:34:13.300
Do you consider yourself to be indigenous?

673
00:34:14.100 --> 00:34:17.600
Yes, I am McMahon my bad side and

674
00:34:17.600 --> 00:34:20.500
 I am Celtic on my mum's side. Then that

675
00:34:20.500 --> 00:34:23.500
 begs the question. Why do some people think you're

676
00:34:23.500 --> 00:34:25.300
 not native? Do you know?

677
00:34:27.700 --> 00:34:30.200
Not exactly. I I can I

678
00:34:30.200 --> 00:34:33.500
 know a little bits somebody sent me what it's

679
00:34:33.500 --> 00:34:36.500
 supposed to be my genealogy chart and they have

680
00:34:36.500 --> 00:34:39.500
 it wrong. Even on my mother's side.

681
00:34:39.500 --> 00:34:41.800
 They have it was the Celtic side. Yeah.

682
00:34:43.700 --> 00:34:46.700
Situations get tricky and I'm no genealogist

683
00:34:46.700 --> 00:34:49.700
 when someone like Cindy claims an indigenous

684
00:34:49.700 --> 00:34:52.400
 past while Anonymous websites claim

685
00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:55.500
 the opposite who decides that's what

686
00:34:55.500 --> 00:34:58.200
 employers are faced with and while they're working

687
00:34:58.200 --> 00:35:02.500
 it out. The personal toll can be profound has

688
00:35:01.500 --> 00:35:04.300
 it had a personal effect upon you

689
00:35:04.300 --> 00:35:08.000
 it definitely has it

690
00:35:07.300 --> 00:35:10.700
 is caused an enormous amount of

691
00:35:10.700 --> 00:35:11.400
 stress.

692
00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:16.200
I've done lots of crying about it and you

693
00:35:15.200 --> 00:35:18.200
 know just been scared about you know,

694
00:35:18.200 --> 00:35:21.700
 where is this going to go Cindy's attackers were

695
00:35:21.700 --> 00:35:24.800
 Relentless contacting both the university and

696
00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:27.800
 her book publisher, but she's managed

697
00:35:27.800 --> 00:35:29.000
 to weather the storm.

698
00:35:29.900 --> 00:35:32.400
So where do things then now? I'm not

699
00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:32.900
 getting fired.

700
00:35:34.300 --> 00:35:37.400
I'm still doing the trainings and the workshops. Like

701
00:35:37.400 --> 00:35:39.600
 I always have been so.

702
00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:43.300
Yeah, I don't know who these people are. I don't

703
00:35:43.300 --> 00:35:46.200
 know how to respond because if you don't know who

704
00:35:46.200 --> 00:35:48.000
 they are. How do you respond to anybody?

705
00:35:48.600 --> 00:35:51.300
All I've done since I came to this city as a

706
00:35:51.300 --> 00:35:54.600
 young one is work really really hard for the

707
00:35:54.600 --> 00:35:57.000
 native Community. I've always done that.

708
00:35:58.100 --> 00:36:01.700
The debate over how much Heritage or blood is needed for

709
00:36:01.700 --> 00:36:04.700
 one to be considered an Indian isn't simple

710
00:36:04.700 --> 00:36:07.400
 and when I travel to the University of

711
00:36:07.400 --> 00:36:10.700
 waterloo's indigenous Student Center, I discover more

712
00:36:10.700 --> 00:36:15.400
 about people sense of self the

713
00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:16.300
 name I was giving at

714
00:36:16.300 --> 00:36:19.900
 Birth is Braden Peter Lehman, but I was also given the

715
00:36:19.900 --> 00:36:22.500
 name to hoga when I was four by my

716
00:36:22.500 --> 00:36:25.300
 uncle Charlie who is the chief of the wolf clan on the other night

717
00:36:25.300 --> 00:36:27.800
 of Reserve. I'm actually only a quarter all night.

718
00:36:28.500 --> 00:36:31.500
Is being a quarter enough that's a question. I've

719
00:36:31.500 --> 00:36:34.500
 struggled with myself being that I again I

720
00:36:34.500 --> 00:36:37.400
 look I'm visibly white. I mostly white

721
00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:40.600
 but I do have that quarter side that is indigenous

722
00:36:40.600 --> 00:36:43.100
 and I'm generally most connected to that side of my family.

723
00:36:44.200 --> 00:36:47.200
I actually do have status. I finally got the card because I

724
00:36:47.200 --> 00:36:50.200
 was refused at a gas station on the

725
00:36:50.200 --> 00:36:53.500
 Oneida Reserve. I don't look indigenous but

726
00:36:53.500 --> 00:36:53.800
 I am

727
00:36:54.900 --> 00:36:58.100
I also know something about expressing one's

728
00:36:57.100 --> 00:37:00.400
 indigenity when you don't look like they think

729
00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:03.500
 you should, you know skin color straight black

730
00:37:03.500 --> 00:37:07.400
 hair wild rice dripping under your pockets. People can

731
00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:09.800
 treat you very differently because

732
00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:10.200
 of that.

733
00:37:11.400 --> 00:37:14.500
Well, um to an extent with the being only a

734
00:37:14.500 --> 00:37:17.800
 quarter First Nations, I don't feel the most accepted by

735
00:37:17.800 --> 00:37:20.200
 the indigenous Community. Like I've talked with my father

736
00:37:20.200 --> 00:37:23.100
 about this and he also doesn't feel the most accepted by

737
00:37:23.100 --> 00:37:27.000
 the indigenous Community sure. He's more than me, but he's half and

738
00:37:26.500 --> 00:37:29.500
 with that I just feel like I need

739
00:37:29.500 --> 00:37:33.000
 to kind of display that more. I have an earring

740
00:37:32.200 --> 00:37:35.500
 with a feather on it symbolizing the indigenous

741
00:37:35.500 --> 00:37:38.200
 status as well. I like to wear this jacket. So I've got

742
00:37:38.200 --> 00:37:42.200
 my name painted here and I've got the Hiawatha belt

743
00:37:42.200 --> 00:37:45.600
 and then on the back there has been an occasion

744
00:37:45.600 --> 00:37:49.100
 before where I've been called out by non-indigenous person

745
00:37:48.100 --> 00:37:51.200
 for wearing this jacket because they

746
00:37:51.200 --> 00:37:54.800
 assumed I was not indigenous and then I go hi, my

747
00:37:54.800 --> 00:37:57.900
 name is the whole God and then they're complete tonality

748
00:37:57.900 --> 00:37:58.200
 changes.

749
00:37:59.900 --> 00:38:02.600
I don't consider myself a

750
00:38:02.600 --> 00:38:03.200
 pretend Indian.

751
00:38:05.500 --> 00:38:08.900
Braden has 25% native blood a

752
00:38:08.900 --> 00:38:11.300
 status card and relatives on a reserve

753
00:38:11.300 --> 00:38:14.300
 but still feels the need to assert his

754
00:38:14.300 --> 00:38:17.400
 identity. So what happens when your blood Quantum is

755
00:38:17.400 --> 00:38:20.100
 even lower and you're on a

756
00:38:20.100 --> 00:38:23.200
 journey to understand your own family's loss connection to a

757
00:38:23.200 --> 00:38:26.500
 First Nation jadem hunt of the Waterloo indigenous

758
00:38:26.500 --> 00:38:29.700
 Student Center grapples with that question every day.

759
00:38:29.700 --> 00:38:32.400
 So you're in this position to help

760
00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:35.800
 the students try and find their voice as somebody

761
00:38:35.800 --> 00:38:38.800
 who's gone through that that procedure themselves. This

762
00:38:38.800 --> 00:38:42.700
 is actually where I began my identity

763
00:38:41.700 --> 00:38:43.600
 Journey. I'd like to call it.

764
00:38:44.400 --> 00:38:47.600
I never met my Father which is where my indigenous

765
00:38:47.600 --> 00:38:50.400
 ancestry comes from. I was 23 when

766
00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:53.600
 I found out about my father dying by Suicide and

767
00:38:53.600 --> 00:38:56.200
 that was kind of a big turning point in my

768
00:38:56.200 --> 00:38:59.000
 life. It was at that time that I started, you know,

769
00:38:59.300 --> 00:39:02.300
 being invited to sweat lodges and things and I thought you know, oh I shouldn't be going

770
00:39:02.300 --> 00:39:05.200
 there because I don't have status. And so this was

771
00:39:05.200 --> 00:39:08.600
 a narrative that I carried forward was that because I didn't have status that

772
00:39:08.600 --> 00:39:11.500
 I wasn't able to partake in any of the ceremony or

773
00:39:11.500 --> 00:39:14.900
 you know, being a part of you know being indigenous

774
00:39:14.900 --> 00:39:17.900
 but here at the University Jayden took

775
00:39:17.900 --> 00:39:21.000
 a path towards self-identification. She

776
00:39:20.200 --> 00:39:23.300
 learned that her great great grandmother was

777
00:39:23.300 --> 00:39:26.300
 a full-blooded Mohawk who was in the residential school system.

778
00:39:27.600 --> 00:39:30.400
That means that I'm like 1/16 which

779
00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:33.500
 gets me to thinking like well, I'm not enough right and then

780
00:39:33.500 --> 00:39:36.200
 there's that question of well who determines who's enough?

781
00:39:37.200 --> 00:39:40.300
Jadem has applied for her status card. So the Canadian

782
00:39:40.300 --> 00:39:43.500
 government will decide her fate. She's also reaching

783
00:39:43.500 --> 00:39:46.400
 out to Mohawks from the reserve. Her indigenous relatives

784
00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:50.400
 came from hoping for acceptance and deeper validation.

785
00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:52.600
 From what I've seen a very

786
00:39:52.600 --> 00:39:55.300
 big important part is making sure that the community also accepts

787
00:39:55.300 --> 00:39:58.600
 you and so I know this community accepts me, but I haven't

788
00:39:58.600 --> 00:40:01.000
 done the work in my own community that my family is a part

789
00:40:01.200 --> 00:40:05.800
 of and I'm gonna do that because I want to know many have

790
00:40:05.800 --> 00:40:08.700
 legitimately lost their links to first nation ancestors

791
00:40:08.700 --> 00:40:11.500
 and perhaps these are not the people we

792
00:40:11.500 --> 00:40:12.100
 should be judging

793
00:40:12.900 --> 00:40:15.600
But there are still so many with no authentic

794
00:40:15.600 --> 00:40:18.500
 indigenous connections now coming to us for something.

795
00:40:18.500 --> 00:40:20.900
 They can't seem to find elsewhere.

796
00:40:21.900 --> 00:40:23.100
What are they looking for?

797
00:40:25.100 --> 00:40:26.000
I'll tell you what I see.

798
00:40:27.400 --> 00:40:30.300
a lot of people all of a sudden become Indian

799
00:40:32.100 --> 00:40:33.400
and it's the Romantic end of it.

800
00:40:34.600 --> 00:40:35.600
It's the power dancing.

801
00:40:36.600 --> 00:40:38.300
It's I'm going to ceremonies is.

802
00:40:39.200 --> 00:40:42.100
It's all beautiful. Everybody loves each other. Everybody likes each other.

803
00:40:42.100 --> 00:40:45.600
 I think there's an identity Gap State nationalism wipes

804
00:40:45.600 --> 00:40:49.000
 their identity that need for identity that need for feast

805
00:40:48.200 --> 00:40:51.100
 food that need for regalia that

806
00:40:51.100 --> 00:40:54.200
 need for prayer that need for ritual. They're really important

807
00:40:54.200 --> 00:40:57.400
 Shapers of who we are and when that's been

808
00:40:57.400 --> 00:41:01.000
 wiped out of you and all you're doing is singing no Canada, eventually,

809
00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:02.200
 it doesn't sustain you right?

810
00:41:03.400 --> 00:41:06.800
Now there's some good native wisdom for you. There are

811
00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:10.200
 people out there in need of cultural sustenance. We

812
00:41:09.200 --> 00:41:12.400
 also understand that imitation is

813
00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:15.800
 supposed to be the best form of flattering but people you

814
00:41:15.800 --> 00:41:19.900
 have to draw the line somewhere. My grandfather's

815
00:41:18.900 --> 00:41:22.300
 grandmother was Irish. You

816
00:41:21.300 --> 00:41:24.100
 don't see me waving a sheleighly around.

817
00:41:25.200 --> 00:41:29.100
Understand us accept us, but please don't

818
00:41:28.100 --> 00:41:30.800
 try to be us.

819
00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:36.300
as for the number of indigenous drops of blood in my veins remember

820
00:41:35.300 --> 00:41:37.100
 this

821
00:41:38.200 --> 00:41:41.300
All right, it's three weeks later and my DNA results

822
00:41:41.300 --> 00:41:43.400
 are in how indigenous am I?

823
00:41:44.500 --> 00:41:45.200
it says

824
00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:07.100
here