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Indigenous self-ID/"Pretendians" (merged thread)

daftandbarmy

Army.ca Dinosaur
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This won't be helped by the fact that just about everyone already hates her guts ;)



Disputed history​


Prominent scholar and former judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says she is a treaty Indian of Cree ancestry — but her claims don’t appear to match the historical record. Her story illuminates a complex and growing discussion about Indigenous identity that’s playing out across the country.

Questions about Turpel-Lafond’s background have actually followed her for decades. A 1995 profile in the Ottawa Citizen said “she was the target of a whisper campaign during the Charlottetown debate. Indians opposed to the deal said Turpel wasn’t really an Indian.” The reporter added that “during interviews for this profile, more than one person suggested checking into her Indian background.”

CBC decided to undertake an investigation. In the process, it examined records from archives across Canada, including genealogical records, census forms and voter registries, and reviewed more than 100 newspaper, magazine and journal articles and dozens of videos.

Understanding that the issue of Indigenous ancestry is complex, nuanced and deeply personal, CBC undertook its research in consultation with Indigenous academics and journalists.

CBC discovered that some of Turpel-Lafond’s claims about her Cree ancestry, her treaty Indian status, the community where she grew up and her academic accomplishments are inconsistent with publicly available documents.

... Turpel-Lafond says she’s a treaty Indian from Muskeg Lake. But she has declined to show her status card or even indicate whether she has one. She has also refused to offer any documentation demonstrating her Indigenous family tree.

“I have not and will not be sharing any private confidential personal records with any media outlet,” Turpel-Lafond wrote in an email.

She has declined repeated requests for an interview, but CBC did exchange emails with her over a period of several months. In that correspondence, CBC provided Turpel-Lafond with the findings of its investigation.


 
This won't be helped by the fact that just about everyone already hates her guts ;)



Disputed history​


Prominent scholar and former judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says she is a treaty Indian of Cree ancestry — but her claims don’t appear to match the historical record. Her story illuminates a complex and growing discussion about Indigenous identity that’s playing out across the country.

Questions about Turpel-Lafond’s background have actually followed her for decades. A 1995 profile in the Ottawa Citizen said “she was the target of a whisper campaign during the Charlottetown debate. Indians opposed to the deal said Turpel wasn’t really an Indian.” The reporter added that “during interviews for this profile, more than one person suggested checking into her Indian background.”

CBC decided to undertake an investigation. In the process, it examined records from archives across Canada, including genealogical records, census forms and voter registries, and reviewed more than 100 newspaper, magazine and journal articles and dozens of videos.

Understanding that the issue of Indigenous ancestry is complex, nuanced and deeply personal, CBC undertook its research in consultation with Indigenous academics and journalists.

CBC discovered that some of Turpel-Lafond’s claims about her Cree ancestry, her treaty Indian status, the community where she grew up and her academic accomplishments are inconsistent with publicly available documents.

... Turpel-Lafond says she’s a treaty Indian from Muskeg Lake. But she has declined to show her status card or even indicate whether she has one. She has also refused to offer any documentation demonstrating her Indigenous family tree.

“I have not and will not be sharing any private confidential personal records with any media outlet,” Turpel-Lafond wrote in an email.

She has declined repeated requests for an interview, but CBC did exchange emails with her over a period of several months. In that correspondence, CBC provided Turpel-Lafond with the findings of its investigation.


All women must be believed.






;) for the shining armoured brigade
 
Wondering where the dividing line between "identifying as" and "walting" lies...
 
Every American is apparently 1/16th Cherokee
 
More zig zagging....


Turpel-Lafond now claims her father was adopted from a Cree family​


After months of declining to directly answer CBC's questions about her father's parentage, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond has now claimed in a statement on Twitter that her father, who she says was Cree, was adopted by her grandparents.

For decades Turpel-Lafond, who has been considered one of Canada's most accomplished Indigenous scholars, has claimed that she is a Treaty Indian of Cree ancestry. She said she was Cree because her father, William Turpel, was Cree.

A CBC investigation published earlier this week called those claims into question.

CBC asked Turpel-Lafond how her dad could be Cree when her grandparents, the people who raised her father, were of European and American ancestry.
She refused to answer the question directly, instead hinting at family secrets.

"My dad was born during my grandfather's time at Norway House. I was raised to not embarrass, shame or cause harm to families, and not to interfere," she wrote in an email to CBC. "I respect my parents and all members of my family and I will never call anyone out. Growing up we did not question biological parentage."

While Turpel-Lafond declined to say who she thought her father's parents were, her sister Melinda Turpel offered her thoughts to CBC in a phone interview.

She said it was possible that her dad was the product of an affair between her grandfather and a Cree woman. But she said the more likely scenario is that he was adopted.

"I believe [William Nicholson and Eleanor Turpel] were not his parents. They just took care of him and raised him like he was their own," she said, adding that she thought her sisters would agree with her.

In Turpel-Lafond's Friday statement on Twitter she said her grandparents "adopted my father, who they knew to be a Cree child from Norway House, although this was not done in a formal manner."

This claim by Turpel-Lafond is difficult to reconcile with historical documents CBC uncovered.

A July 24, 1929, newspaper announcement published in the Victoria Daily Times said her grandparents, "Dr. and Mrs. W. N. Turpel of Norway House, Manitoba," had given birth to a son. A March 27, 1932, baptismal record says the child born in Victoria was William Turpel.

A July 24, 1929, announcement in the Victoria Daily Times newspaper says Dr. and Mrs. Turpel had a son. A later baptismal record indicates that the boy born on that date was William Turpel. (Victoria Daily Times)

Wilfrid Laurier University history professor Mark Humphries told CBC the discovery of these two independent documents would make it seem unlikely that the Turpels adopted William.

"It's pretty unequivocal that Eleanor was the mother of William Turpel, at least from the records I've seen," said Humphries.

Turpel-Lafond also told CBC that a Cree woman had adopted her dad from her grandparents, seemingly the opposite of what she is now claiming.
"The midwife, Mary Clarke, adopted my dad," wrote Turpel-Lafond in an email to CBC. "She had lost a son and she ended up taking on my dad as her son." She claimed Clarke and her grandfather, Dr. Turpel, "were very close."

Turpel-Lafond has also claimed to be a Treaty Indian, but she has consistently denied CBC's requests to see her Indian status card and wouldn't even indicate if she has one.

Indigenous leaders like Michelle Good, a retired lawyer and author from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation, have called for Turpel-Lafond to be transparent.

"If she says that she in fact knows that there is Indigenous ancestry, then for the people that she claims to love and support and to dedicate her life to, she should bring that [evidence] forward, she should bring that publicly out," said Good.

Over the past few years in this country, Indigenous scholars and leaders have raised concerns that a growing number of non-Indigenous people have been claiming Indigenous ancestry and receiving benefits that were set aside for Indigenous people.

In her statement Friday, Turpel-Lafond said, "although I often work in the fields of Indigenous justice and child welfare, I have never been awarded a position on an affirmative action basis... I have been clear in my work that I do not speak for any First Nation as I am a private citizen, not an elected Chief or leader."


More chickens coming home to roost for the Pretendian ;)

Royal Roads, VIU take another look at Turpel-Lafond honorary degrees​


Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond served for a decade as B.C.’s representative for children and youth; a recent CBC News investigation has raised questions about the validity of her claims to be a treaty Indian of Cree ancestry

Two Vancouver Island universities that issued honorary degrees to former youth representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond say they are consulting Indigenous partners and colleagues about how to proceed after a First Nations group asked that the degrees be rescinded.

Turpel-Lafond served for a decade as B.C.’s representative for children and youth, and two years ago, was tasked with preparing a report on Indigenous-specific racism in B.C.’s health-care system.

But after a CBC News investigation raised questions about the validity of her claims that she is a treaty Indian of Cree ancestry, the Indigenous Women’s Collective, a Saskatchewan group, asked any university that had issued Turpel-Lafond an honorary degree to rescind the distinction.
Vancouver Island University bestowed an honorary doctor of laws degree on Turpel-Lafond in 2013, saying it was in recognition of her “extraordinary humanitarian and public contributions to fostering awareness and understanding of the challenges and needs affecting vulnerable children in Canada.”

In a statement, the university said it “respectfully acknowledges” the concerns raised by the Indigenous Women’s Collective.

It said issues of Indigenous identity are complex and “must be considered within the context of hundreds of years of colonialization.” “As an institution committed to evidence-based practice, we will be taking the necessary time to follow proper governance, consult with Indigenous partners, and carefully evaluate all the ethical considerations pertaining to this matter.”

Royal Roads University, which gave Turpel-Lafond an honorary degree in 2016, said in a statement that it will review the concerns raised “with appropriate care and attention,” adding: “Consistent with our commitment to truth and reconciliation, this will include consultation with Indigenous colleagues and other members of our community.”

 
Yes, who could have possibly predicted that handing out plum positions based largely on the claimed ancestry of the applicants would turn out badly.

In other news, despite only meeting 10% of their recruiting goals, CFRCs are currently turning away applicants because (and I quote) “you are not what we are looking for, right now”.

Two guesses on the physical attributes that make these applicants unsuitable….
 
Yes, who could have possibly predicted that handing out plum positions based largely on the claimed ancestry of the applicants would turn out badly.

In other news, despite only meeting 10% of their recruiting goals, CFRCs are currently turning away applicants because (and I quote) “you are not what we are looking for, right now”.

Two guesses on the physical attributes that make these applicants unsuitable….

Not BIPOC? ;)
 
The ante is upped....

Rescind Turpel-Lafond's honorary degrees or we'll return ours, say high-profile Indigenous women​

Academic integrity expert says Turpel-Lafond story is a ‘watershed moment for Canadian higher education’​




From the article…
"To appropriate not only the identity but also the pain and suffering of Indigenous Peoples possibly for personal gain and accolades is simply wrong and I find it offensive," [McDonald] wrote. "For institutions to bestow honours as a direct result of those misrepresentations of personal harm piles it on even more."

…let alone the issue of a lawyer (allegedly) lying… 🤔
 
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