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Unladylike

The "Pretendian" Long Con (ENCORE)

Unladylike

Unladylike Media

Society & Culture, Body Politics, Media Analysis, Feminism, Beauty Standards, Cultural Commentary, Gender, Womens Rights, Internet Culture, Personal Journals, Patriarchy, Intersectionality, Philosophy, Comedy

4.83.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What happens when someone who built their career on being Indigenous turns out to be ... a white lady? Award-winning writer and reporter Michelle Cyca shares how she came face to face with Indigenous identity fraud, why academia and the arts have a 'Pretendian' problem and what these scams means for Indigenous rights and sovereignty. **This episode originally aired on January 31, 2023** Read Michelle's MacLean's cover story, The Curious Case of Gina Adams: A "Pretendian" Investigation Send voice memos and emails to: [email protected] Follow Unladylike: IG | Twitter | TikTok Join the Unladies' Room Shop bRaNd NeW mErCh Contact Multitude Productions for ad rates, etc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

And ladies, just a quick programming note, this episode originally aired a year ago in January

0:05.9

2023.

0:08.0

Since then, our guest and journalist Michelle Cisa won a National Magazine Award for her incredible reporting on the

0:15.4

central story you're about to hear. Additional cases of alleged

0:20.0

indigenous identity fraud have also come to light, including more recently the

0:25.2

Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Buffy St. Marie. Okay, here's the episode.

0:32.0

It's not just a kooky scammer story.

0:36.0

No, it's very serious. It's very scary.

0:40.0

And I am kind of alarmed for what the future holds if, you know, we get to a point where real indigenous people are outnumbered by people who are living out this like Pocahontas fantasy role play. The numbers are alarming. I'm Lady Life.

1:04.0

A lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like a lady like Lady Like, I'm Kristen.

1:15.0

I've had a love.

1:23.3

This is Un Lady Like. I'm Kristen. And here's a little pop quiz for y'all.

1:25.6

What do the following people have in common?

1:30.1

You ready?

1:32.2

Andrea Smith, Michelle Latimer. Amy Wolf. Liz Hoover. Mary Ellen

1:37.6

Terpeel Lafond. Sashine Littlefeather. Carrie Barasa, Kayclare, Cheyanturians, Gina Adams.

1:45.0

Still guessing?

1:48.0

Canadian and ladies, you might have already figured this one out.

1:54.0

What those 10 people have in common is that they are all from

1:59.0

different realms of academia and the arts who have been outed in recent years for indigenous identity fraud, known

2:06.9

as Pretendianism.

2:09.6

These are folks who built their influence, funding, and careers off of what turned out to be fabricated

...

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