Terese Mailhot. Photo from Facebook
It seems like ethnic frauds are everywhere these days and writer Terese Mailhot (Seabird Island Band) thinks we should be speaking out about them as a means of healing indigenous communities:
It’s been interesting to see the endless coverage and attention that Joseph Boyden has received concerning his Native identity. ‘Outing’ someone’s identity is always ugly business, and this specific case has further complicated First Nations identity and authorship. So many people are unapologetically opinionated on Boyden, but silent when it comes to the closest members in their communities, who seem to have loose connections, or none at all, to the Native identities they claim. Why are we outing Boyden, but not everyone else? Are we cleaning house or what? Every other month there is a new memoir, editorial, novel, or panel concerning Native identity, liminal spaces, traumatic history, and how indigenous identity has shifted in contemporary and academic discourse. The ugly secret is that people writing these books and articles, and people having these conversations, are sometimes identifying as Native American, but refuse to specify their tribe, lineage, or history. We gossip about these people behind closed doors, or respectfully stay silent when they say problematic or dubious things. Why are we so comfortable discussing Boyden, but we’re too scared to name more names? Or even confront these other people? I don’t know.Read More on the Story:
Terese Mailhot: Arguing About Native Identity, A Good Type of Trouble (Indian Country Today 1/26)
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