{"id":220,"date":"2024-02-18T16:05:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-18T16:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gildedgreen.com\/indigital\/?page_id=220"},"modified":"2025-09-21T15:54:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T15:54:02","slug":"identity-and-authenticity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gildedgreen.com\/indigital\/identity-and-authenticity\/","title":{"rendered":"Identity and Authenticity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many Indigenous communities, nations, and individuals navigate questions of identity and authenticity in diverse ways. Centuries of removal from homelands (National Museum of the American Indian, 2016<\/a>), theft of children through boarding school and settler adoption programs (Nagle, 2021<\/a>), and intentional elimination of cultural lifeways (Wolfe, 2006<\/a>) alienated many Indigenous peoples from communities and practices. Consequently, many Indigenous communities and individuals are engaged in an active process of reconnecting with and revitalizing Indigenous cultural identities. The Myaamia people, for example, are actively engaged in cultural and linguistic revitalization work<\/a> and develop programming to help young Myaamia citizens foster Myaamia identity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indigenous people and communities must also contend with settler appropriation of Indigenous identity, or ‘Pretendianism<\/a>.’ Settlers may falsely adopt Indigenous identity because doing so helps them professionally as artists or academics (taking up space from Indigenous artists and academics), or because it alleviates feelings of settler guilt (Tuck & Yang, 2012<\/a>). Some American pretendians may unknowingly falsely claim Indigenous identity, based on, for example, a blood or DNA test<\/a>, if they are ignorant of the fact that each of the 574 federally-recognized tribal nations have their own specific <\/em>constitutional criteria for citizenship and criteria for community membership (National Congress of American Indians, 2020<\/a>). However, regardless of whether the ethnic fraud is committed knowingly or not, the harm that results is real<\/strong> – for example, resources and supports can be diverted from Indigenous people to non-Indigenous people, and Indigenous cultural practices may be appropriated and misrepresented by non-Indigenous people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading, Listening, Watching, and Learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Explore the podcast, video, and readings below to encounter some different perspectives on Indigenous identity and authenticity. Read\/watch\/listen to at least two<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CrashCourse. (2025, June 3). What makes someone Native American?: Ep 4 of crash course Native American history <\/em>[ video ]. YouTube.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this short video, host Che Jim (enrolled member, Navajo Nation) summarizes common stereotypes about “authentic” Indigenous identity, and how Indigenous identity has been defined through history and today by both Indigenous and settler individuals and governments.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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PBS Voices. (2023, November 15). What does \u201cauthentically\u201d Indigenous look like? <\/em>[ video ]. YouTube.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this short video produced by Dr. Lee Francis IV (enrolled citizen, Laguna Pueblo), correspondent Cheyenne Bearfoot (member, Chiricahua Apache Nation) explores how cultural images of what is “authentically” or “traditionally” Indigenous can often be settler fictions, or rooted in settler conceptions of Indigenous peoples as locked in the past. She also interviews contemporary designers who are developing conceptions of contemporary Indigenous identities.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Yellowhorse Kesler, S., Carrillo, S., Drummond, S., & Donnella, L. (Hosts). (2022, January 26). Playing pretendian [Audio podcast episode]. In Code Switch<\/em>. NPR.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this episode of the Code Switch<\/em> podcast, the hosts explore multiple instances of pretendianism, from prominent public figures to folks quietly lying on college applications, and discuss the consequences. They also discuss some of the various factors that may contribute to Indigenous identity for different communities.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ironstrack, G. & Shea, H. (2021). Naming as a Source of Resiliency. Aacimotaatiiyankwi<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this piece, Myaamia citizens Kii\u0161ikohkwa<\/em> \u2018Haley Shea\u2019 and Meemeeh\u0161hkia<\/em> \u2018George Ironstrack\u2019 discuss their personal narratives in coming to their Myaamia names, and how their Myaamia senses of identity developed in relation to the settler and Myaamia cultures and communities they lived and live in.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Starks, A. (2022, Jun 17). Black-Native identity and futurity<\/em>. National Museum of the American Indian. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this short piece, Amber Starks (enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation), discusses the historic roots of Black-Native identity, and how these roots inform contemporary realities of Black citizens of tribal nations.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Reflect After Reading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n