Cuthand: Pretendians like Buffy Sainte-Maire exposed in 2024

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Each December, the word of the year is announced by various sources. This year the Oxford dictionary has chosen the term “brain rot,” while the Websters dictionary has chosen “polarization.”

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Both are worthy as they describe the crazy social media fuelled politics of the year.

But I have another choice that’s more appropriate for Indian Country. The word of the year for us is “pretendian.” Pretendian describes individuals who claim Indigenous status, but don’t have any; they claim Indigenous roots for notoriety, status and money.

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2024 was the year of the pretendian and they were dropping out of the woodwork. Buffy Sainte-Marie, medical researcher Carrie Bourassa, Judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond and member of Parliament Randy Boissonnault all came under scrutiny and were found wanting.

Pretendians have been with us since Grey Owl and, more recently, writer Joseph Boyden and filmmaker Michelle Latimer.

The case that rocked Indian Country was Buffy Sainte-Marie. For several generations, she was the only Cree face we saw on TV. She was on Sesame Street and various music shows. She toured North America selling her Cree roots.

In 2007 she won the Juno for Indigenous album of the year; now we know that she is neither Indigenous nor a Canadian and she should return the award.

At the University of Saskatchewan, Carrie Bourassa was a professor in the College of Medicine as well as the scientific director of the institute of Indigenous people’s health, which is part of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

She held high-profile positions and was seen as Indigenous and an expert on Indigenous health issues.

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Our people have a sixth sense when it comes to fraudsters. People who are living a lie and claiming Indigenous ancestry are bound to slip up and reveal their lack of knowledge.

They make up stories of being adopted and raised outside the culture, or they redirect concerns by telling stories of racism and hardship. Eventually people start to ask questions and dig into the individual’s past.

When Grey Owl was revealed to be Archie Belany from Hastings, England, the country was shocked. However, I have spoken to elders such as Allen Ahenakew and Angus Merasty who told me they knew Grey Owl wasn’t Indigenous.

When he spoke Cree, his accent was obvious. But they accepted him because they considered him harmless, and he was promoting Indigenous issues. He was also a prodigious drunk and reinforced the stereotype.

But Grey Owl was not an anomaly — he was the tip of the iceberg. For decades nobody wanted to claim Indigenous status. It was considered a detriment rather than an advantage. Times have changed and today there is serious cash and fame for an individual who knows how to play the system.

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Pretendians know how to use the system to their advantage. Institutions like them because they speak their language and provide a sense of comfort. In the case of Carrie Bourassa, the institution was reluctant to let her go because she was doing a good job.

Pretendians create a dichotomy in that many are talented individuals, but they are living a lie. In the process they are taking funding, awards and salaries created to serve the Indigenous population.

Equally talented Indigenous scholars, writers and entertainers are left out. Pretendians are not an asset to our people, they are a detriment to the advancement of our people.

Many individuals like Judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond have done good work and advanced Indigenous causes. Buffy Sainte-Marie had the “cradleboard” project, which is a teaching tool to raise the self esteem of Indigenous children.

But this is something that they could have done without claiming Indigenous ancestry. They should have declared their racial background and pledged their support to the Indigenous nations.

This, however, is easier said than done. Once someone starts living a lie, it is hard to back out and admit wrongdoing. The result is that the individual gets in deeper and deeper and suffers enormous loss and embarrassment when found out.

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No doubt more pretendians will surface, but we must move on. We need to look out for each other and promote the real Indigenous people.

So that’s my word for the year. It’s the product of brain rot, but it hasn’t led to the polarization of Indigenous society.

Doug Cuthand is the Indigenous affairs columnist for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post. He is a member of the Little Pine First Nation.

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