Pretendians
Title: This is Native America #6: Pretendians are Rooted in White Supremacy
Created: 2022
Medium: Graphic Design
Software: Adobe Illustrator CC
Dimensions: 36″x48″
Articles
“Normally racial identity theft — take the example of Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who claimed she was “transracial” and therefore a black woman — is not socially acceptable. But Native identity seems an odd exception to this societal rule and is exploited by “pretendians,” or people pretending or claiming to be Native. Pretendians perpetuate the myth that Native identity is determined by the individual, not the tribe or community, directly undermining tribal sovereignty and Native self-determination. To protect the rights of Indigenous people, pretendians like Wages and Warren must be challenged and the retelling of their false narratives must be stopped.”
– High Country News, How ‘pretendians’ undermine the rights of Indigenous people.
“KESLER: Practically every Native American has run into someone like this who says that they got a DNA test to prove they’re Indigenous, or that they have a distant ancestor who was supposedly a Cherokee princess. And there are words for people like this, pretendians (ph) or wannabes. High-profile instances that come to mind are Elizabeth Warren, who claims Cherokee identity, but has since apologized for doing so, or Andrea Smith, an academic who also claimed Cherokee identity but could not provide proof of her enrollment in the tribe. She claims her Native identity is legitimate. And that’s not even mentioning people playing Indian on screen.”
– NPR, The race-shifting of ‘Pretendians’.
Pretendians.com
Go to Pretendians.com to learn more.
Pretendians.com lists public information regarding Pretendians, Faux or Fake Indians, New Age Frauds, Plastic Shamans, Neo-Shamans, and Raceshifters. Sources, articles, community statements, how-tos, and calls to action are listed.
Poster
Download the 8.5″x11″ poster (.pdf), This is Native America #6 – Pretendians are Rooted in White Supremacy.
Download the 11″x17″ poster (.pdf), This is Native America #6 – Pretendians are Rooted in White Supremacy.
Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), This is Native America #6 – Pretendians are Rooted in White Supremacy.
Wallpaper
You can download this design’s mobile and laptop wallpapers on the Wallpapers page.
Close-Ups
This is Native America
This is Native America is a series of artworks by Ihanktonwan Dakota artist David Bernie that promotes issues and stories within Native American and First Nations communities.
Creative Commons License
This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
