What Is a “Pretendian”? Fraud, Law, and Real Cases in Academia

Every year, people who have built careers by falsely claiming Indigenous identity face public exposure, institutional consequences, and in some cases, legal action. The term “pretendian” has moved from Indigenous community circles into mainstream legal and policy discussions — and courts are beginning to take notice. Here is what it means, who it affects, and what the law actually does and does not do about it.

What Does “Pretendian” Mean?

“Pretendian” is a pejorative colloquialism for a person who engages in Indigenous identity fraud — a non-Indigenous person who falsely and publicly claims an Indigenous identity. The word is a portmanteau of “pretend” and “Indian.” In the United States, Indigenous identity fraud typically involves an individual falsely and publicly claiming to be Native American. In Canada, it can involve falsely claiming to be a First Nations person, Métis, or Inuit.

Several high-profile cases have brought pretendianism into public view, including Andrea Smith, Kay LeClaire, Elizabeth Hoover, Elizabeth Warren, and Sacheen Littlefeather. Each of these individuals was employed in academia, arts, politics, or media, and they leveraged a false Indigenous identity for enhanced job opportunities, increased financial support, and elevated social standing.

Indigenous identity fraud is considered an extreme form of cultural appropriation, especially if a pretendian asserts that they can represent and speak for communities from which they do not originate.

Why Does It Happen — and Why Does It Matter?

In a contemporary society that increasingly places a premium on ethnoracial representation, claiming Indigenous identity provides non-Indigenous individuals with resources and opportunities they otherwise would not have. Striving for personal gain drives pretendianism.

When a pretendian wins a prize, gets a job, reaps honors and accolades, and sells books, music, and art, they do so by pushing legitimate Indigenous professors, judges, authors, artists, and musicians out of that space. Not winning those prizes, jobs, honors, and money from sales changes the course of history for the Indigenous person they displaced.

The harm extends beyond individuals. The harm done by pretendians in academia is particularly insidious: the structural trickle-down of having non-Indigenous people with non-Indigenous community standpoints rising through the ranks to represent and theorize Indigenous peoplehood, sovereignty, and anti-colonialism. These people become “thought leaders,” institutional decision-makers, and policy advisors to governmental leaders with regulatory and economic power over Indigenous communities.

The Legal Landscape: What Laws Actually Apply?

This is where many readers are surprised. There is no single law in the United States or Canada that directly makes it a crime to falsely claim Indigenous identity in an academic or employment context. However, several laws can apply depending on the circumstances.

In the United States:

The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (IACA) is a truth-in-advertising law that prohibits misrepresentation in the marketing of American Indian or Alaska Native arts and crafts products within the United States. For a first-time violation, an individual can face civil or criminal penalties up to a $250,000 fine or a five-year prison term, or both. If a business violates the act, it can face civil penalties or be prosecuted and fined up to $1,000,000. This law applies specifically to selling art and craft products — not to academic hiring.

For pretendians in academia who obtained grants, scholarships, or government-funded positions based on false identity claims, federal fraud statutes could theoretically apply — including wire fraud or grant fraud — but no such federal prosecution of a pretendian academic has been publicly reported as of February 2026.

Universities have largely avoided formal legal action, citing concerns about litigation risk. When UC Riverside began the process of investigating tenured professor Andrea Smith, a university spokesperson stated that “investigations of a tenured faculty member for alleged misconduct have potential for litigation and appeals, and can unfold over the course of years.”

In Canada:

A judge in British Columbia warned in early 2024 of a “tsunami of Indigenous identity fraud cases heading to courts.” Some individuals facing criminal charges began falsely claiming Indigenous ancestry in the hope of receiving lighter sentences under Gladue rights — a legal principle requiring Canadian courts to consider the unique circumstances of Indigenous offenders at sentencing. Canadian courts are actively working to detect and reject these fraudulent claims.

Defamation as a legal counter-weapon:

In a defamation lawsuit filed in July 2025 in the Supreme Court of Yukon, a family challenged a pretendian activist’s accusations that they had falsely claimed Indigenous heritage. The family sought more than $500,000 in damages, public retractions, and injunctions. The case asks courts: what constitutes legitimate identity accountability, and where does it cross into defamation? This legal dynamic cuts in both directions — pretendians can face exposure, but so can people who accuse others without adequate evidence.

Standard legal avenues exist to address fraud of any kind, and those avenues should be applied to the pretendian problem. However, it is not the responsibility of Indigenous Peoples to detect and police non-Indigenous fraudulent behavior.

Related article: Is Lantern by Labaton Safe and Legitimate? What You Need to Know

High-Profile Cases and Their Outcomes

Carrie Bourassa — University of Saskatchewan, Canada

Four Red River Métis scholars discovered in 2018 that Bourassa had fabricated her Métis identity, a deception dating back to her graduate studies. An anonymous email from a former student exposed inconsistencies in her claims of Métis, Anishinaabe, and Tlingit ancestry. Bourassa had been the scientific director of the Indigenous health arm of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) — one of the most senior Indigenous health positions in Canada.

The four scholars filed formal complaints, but those complaints were dismissed. It was only when CBC investigative journalist Geoff Leo published the story in October 2021 that change began. Bourassa resigned from the University of Saskatchewan in June 2022. No criminal charges were filed.

Andrea Smith — UC Riverside, United States

Andrea Smith had been publicly criticized for her contested claims of Cherokee heritage for at least 15 years. Despite this, she remained employed as a prominent Native American Studies scholar.

Under a separation agreement signed in January 2024, Smith was allowed to continue her employment as a full-time faculty member until August 2024, when she became eligible to receive full retirement benefits and the honorary title of emeritus. Smith’s resignation staved off an administrative investigation and potentially substantial legal costs to the university. She received her full pension. No criminal charges were filed.

Kay LeClaire — University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States

In January 2023, Kay LeClaire — a Wisconsin artist and activist accused of faking various Native American identities — resigned as the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s first-ever community leader in residence at the School of Human Ecology and the Center for Design and Material Culture. LeClaire apologized, saying they would remove themselves from all community spaces, positions, projects, and grants. No criminal or civil charges were publicly filed.

Elizabeth Hoover — UC Berkeley, United States

Elizabeth M. Hoover, an associate professor at UC Berkeley, admitted in May 2023 that she is white, contrary to her prior claims throughout her life that she was Native American. Hoover published a long personal essay saying: “I have brought hurt, harm and broken trust to the Native community at large… I am a white person who has incorrectly identified as Native my whole life, based on incomplete information.”

Her alleged Indigenous roots had come into question in 2021 after her name appeared on Jacqueline Keeler’s “Alleged Pretendian List.” A letter demanding her resignation was signed by hundreds of students, scholars, and Native community members. As of 2026, Hoover remains employed at UC Berkeley. No formal legal action has been taken.

Why Do So Few Cases Lead to Criminal Charges?

The pattern is consistent: exposure, public pressure, eventual resignation or retirement with full benefits, no criminal prosecution. Several factors explain this.

Policy loopholes allow those with fraudulent identity claims to maintain employment, often occupying positions intended for genuine Indigenous scholars. Universities’ inadequate verification processes in employment offers, funding agencies, and publishers have enabled pretendians to build and sustain long careers in academia.

Not only do people support pretendians, but institutions often back them as well. Without media coverage and public scrutiny, pretendians would likely continue to be employed indefinitely.

Tenured faculty protections in the United States give universities strong legal incentives to negotiate quiet exits rather than pursue formal misconduct proceedings. Investigations of tenured faculty members for alleged misconduct have the potential for litigation and appeals, and can unfold over the course of years.

What Universities Are Doing Now

Following several high-profile cases, a number of universities have moved to formalize identity verification processes for Indigenous-specific positions.

It is essential for universities to stop building Indigenous verification systems by themselves and start building them with Indigenous nations external to the institution. Ethical verification frameworks are essential if universities hope to align their policies with the reconciliation principles they profess.

Current Indigenous research practices often rely on overly simplistic self-identification checkboxes. More rigorous data collection is integral and must be explicit about who is providing Indigenous identity data.

Canada’s federal research agencies released the Tri-Agency Indigenous Citizenship and Membership Affirmation Policy on October 1, 2024 — requiring researchers to affirm tribal citizenship or membership affiliation when applying for Indigenous-specific funding. Institutional Indigenous identity policies most actively target non-status and Métis people since they often do not have federally recognized status, creating a risk that legitimate Indigenous people with complex histories become swept up in verification processes alongside actual pretendians.

The Alleged Pretendians List: What It Is and Its Controversies

In January 2021, Navajo journalist Jacqueline Keeler began investigating the problem of settler self-indigenization in academia, working with other Natives in tribal enrollment departments, genealogists, and historians. Her research resulted in the creation of the “Alleged Pretendians List” of about 200 public figures in academia and entertainment.

Keeler has stressed that the list does not include private citizens who are “merely wannabes,” but only those public figures who are monetizing and profiting from their claims to tribal identity and who claim to speak for Native American tribes.

The list has supporters and critics. Native leaders such as Chief Ben Barnes of the Shawnee Tribe have said that Keeler has strong support in Native circles. However, skeptics released a signed statement accusing Keeler of exploiting the issue to further her personal agenda and weaponizing “lateral violence, colonial trauma, and colonial recognition” against people she disagreed with.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is being a pretendian illegal in the United States? A: Not under a single, direct statute in most contexts. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 makes it illegal for non-Natives to sell art falsely claimed to be Indian-made, with penalties up to $250,000 or five years in prison for individuals. Falsely claiming Indigenous identity to obtain federally funded grants or scholarships could constitute fraud under existing federal statutes, but prosecutions in academic contexts have not publicly occurred.

Q: Can a pretendian be sued? A: Civil lawsuits are possible in some circumstances — for fraud, unjust enrichment, or misrepresentation — but no high-profile civil judgment against an academic pretendian has been publicly recorded in the U.S. as of 2026. Defamation lawsuits have been filed by people accused of being pretendians, seeking to challenge the accusations themselves.

Q: Why do pretendians usually just resign instead of facing criminal charges? A: Universities have been reluctant to pursue formal investigations of tenured faculty because such investigations carry litigation risk and can unfold over years. In most cases, institutions negotiate separation agreements that allow pretendians to retire quietly with full benefits.

Q: What is the “Alleged Pretendians List”? A: A list of about 200 public figures compiled by Navajo journalist Jacqueline Keeler, based on research into tribal enrollment records, genealogy, and public claims. It focuses on people who profit financially from Indigenous identity claims. The list is a journalistic and advocacy document, not a legal or governmental determination.

Q: How do universities now verify Indigenous identity for hiring? A: More universities are moving toward verification frameworks built with Indigenous nations external to the institution, rather than relying on self-identification checkboxes alone. Canada’s federal Tri-Agency policy, effective October 1, 2024, now requires proof of tribal citizenship or membership for Indigenous-specific research funding.

Q: What harm do pretendians cause beyond taking jobs? A: Pretendians take up grants, scholarships, jobs, and positions earmarked for Indigenous candidates. They steal the spotlight from genuine Indigenous artists and leaders, capitalize on historical trauma, and groom elders as allies to verify authenticity — humiliating those elders when the fraud is exposed. In academia, their published research shapes public understanding and influences policy affecting real Indigenous communities.

Q: Can someone be a pretendian unintentionally? A: Elizabeth Hoover claimed she was raised believing she had Native ancestry and did not question who she was told she was. As an adult academic, she stated she should have done due diligence to confirm that her ancestors were who she believed them to be. The line between genuine family confusion and willful fraud is legally and ethically contested, and institutions treat cases differently depending on intent and degree of benefit obtained.

Q: What is the Lindsay Montgomery case specifically? A: The Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF) published an investigative report in 2025 accusing Dr. Lindsay Montgomery, an Anthropology and Indigenous Studies professor at the University of Toronto, of falsely claiming American Indian identity. As of February 2026, no lawsuit has been filed in connection with those allegations. The case remains at the institutional and advocacy stage — no court proceedings exist.

Last Updated: February 17, 2026

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. The legal status of individuals mentioned in this article reflects publicly available information as of the date above and may change. For allegations about specific individuals, refer to original source reporting and official institutional statements.

About the Author

Sarah Klein, JD, is a licensed attorney and legal content strategist with over 12 years of experience across civil, criminal, family, and regulatory law. At All About Lawyer, she covers a wide range of legal topics — from high-profile lawsuits and courtroom stories to state traffic laws and everyday legal questions — all with a focus on accuracy, clarity, and public understanding.
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