"[Ward Churchill is] typically described as an expert in the field, and his credentials have been built to represent the authenticity of a Native man. He's known as an American Indian activist, and has been a leader of the Colorado chapter of the American Indian Movement. His resume also includes a stint as director of CU's Indian Studies Department.

He's tried to reinforce his Native-credibility factor by claiming tribal membership with the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee.

He recently told the Denver Post he's three-sixteenth Cherokee. But his story was different when I interviewed him as a CU journalism student. At the time, he said he was one-sixteenth Creek and Cherokee. When my story - which questioned his identity - was published November 1993 in the Colorado Daily, he was not enrolled with a tribe."

Get the Story:
Jodi Rave: Free speech for fake Indian (The Rapid City Journal 2/12)

Churchill's 9/11 Essay:
"Some People Push Back" On the Justice of Roosting Chickens (Pockets of Resistance September 2001)

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