™Fox In Da’ Hen House
Pretendian Takes University Job
Fox In Da House™:
Pretendian: (Gathered from https://www.allwords.com/word-pretendian.html) noun. (North American) The term pretendian is an amalgam of “pretend” and indian”. It has been used to describe individuals of european (sic) descent who desire to participate in the spiritual practices / culture of indigenous peoples, especially American Indians. Some individuals take this as far as pretending to be members of Native American groups. The term in this context is most commonly used in a pejorative manner. The term Wannabe is also used. When native Americans use this term, they often pronounce it “wuh-KNOB-ee,” giving the word a faux-Indian sound. The term “Generokee” is also used.
What is it about being Native American that makes it so alluring that those with not a drop of indigenous blood claim to be NDN. In part, it comes from the over romanticized conception of what it means to be Native fostered by hollyweird, romance novels and distorted history. These band wagon self-created Natives are quick to play the race card when called out. Reminds me of Monty Python, “Help-help I’m being repressed!” Box checking Indians have been the scourge of every real hungry child on a poverty-stricken reservation for too long.
We have seen the tearful ocular outrage of the stoic environmentally bereaved Elder portrayed by the Sicilian-American actor “Iron Eyes” Cody (gee why didn’t Brando find a part for him in the Godfather).
We have witnessed the shameless self-aggrandizing of the phony Princess Pale Moon who feigned being American Indian to benefit the discredited American Indian Heritage foundation (http://www.outofthedark.com/FauxIndians/). That organization, and her serene highness, were behind the sublime craziness of the Miss Indian USA pageant and the ridiculousness of the “donation” of 1000 lbs. of beef liver to a remote Alaskan Native Village, in addition to being a stooge for the D.C football team moniker.
There is also the case of famed white supremacist Asa Earl Carter who penned the much-heralded tome the Education of Little tree under the pseudonym Forrrest Carter (The Education of Little Fraud).
Academia has been a bastion of robbed Native origins as seen by the likes of Ward Churchill or Jamake Mamake Highwater. That brings us to the most recent theft of Native identity to curry credulity and promote ones own status.
On May 4, 2017 the Native American Studies department of Oklahoma State University (don’t get me started on their mascot), announced the hiring of the soon to be infamous Gina Stuart-Richards (GSR). Seems as if Ms. Stuart-Richards became Mississippi Choctaw sometime between 2009 and 2015 according to how she presents herself on the cover of her Curriculum Vitae (CV).
I recently spoke with Dr. Stephanie Gray (non-Native), who has her PhD. in American Lit (focusing on Native American Literature), and taught GSR in her Native American Literature class at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, in fall of 2009. According to this former mentor of GSR the acolyte started as an archeology/anthropology (a shudder unto itself) student with an interest in Native American Studies to a braggadocios sycophant more interested in promoting herself than in producing solid research. It is also noteworthy that GSR confided to Dr. Gray that she had no way of proving any connection to Choctaw lineage.
Dr. Gray and describes her former student as someone who knows how to work the system to her own benefit. GSR manipulated her relationship with her professor to help navigate the streams of the academic world. Ms. Gray soon would tire of the ever-troubling antics of GSR and her efforts to ingratiate herself into the realm of Native Scholars and split ways with her young padawan.
Ms. Stuart Richards now proclaims that she is member (enrolled or not) of the Mississippi Choctaw Tribe. She has parlayed this tribal connection into a doctorate in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona. According to the evidence I have seen this effort to be Mississippi Choctaw is genetically infused as her white ancestors petitioned to the Dawes Commission to be identified as members of the Tribe in order to gain land and other considerations under the Dawes Act. The Commission found these claims to be unfounded and that the family were indeed, not Mississippi Choctaw. All of this information has been researched and can be found at (Ancestor Stealing Blogspot).
GSR dedicates her Master’s Thesis to the “determination and sacrifices” of her Native ancestors. Only problem is that the only determination and sacrifices made seems to be in the efforts to become actual members of the Tribe. Similarly, her Doctoral Dissertation waxes poetic in the dedication about rising to the expectations of her Native ancestors to being a person improving the lives of future generations of her Choctaw people.
Beyond the slap in the face of being yet another non-Native purporting to be an expert on the plight and realities of American Indians the real issue becomes what was taken from actual Native American students. Gina Stuart-Richards has applied for, received and STOLEN $146,400 in scholarships, tuition waivers, internships and stipends from other Native scholars who competed for these same funds (this is according to her own CV). That doesn’t count the salaries she has and is slated to receive that result from her false bona fides.
Cultural appropriation is a blight on all Natives. Theft of who and what we are robs of not just of the rights afforded to us under treat, trust and moral obligations (in this case financial support of our educational endeavors), it steals our experiences, trauma, history and part of our humanity. What it means to a Native person is an almost undefinable amalgam of sacred, geography, language, culture and connection to our ancestors. Please do not take that away from those who have had so much taken already.
For more information about this story go to: Fox In Da House™:
Pretendian: (Gathered from https://www.allwords.com/word-pretendian.html) noun. (North American) The term pretendian is an amalgam of “pretend” and indian”. It has been used to describe individuals of european (sic) descent who desire to participate in the spiritual practices / culture of indigenous peoples, especially American Indians. Some individuals take this as far as pretending to be members of Native American groups. The term in this context is most commonly used in a pejorative manner. The term Wannabe is also used. When native Americans use this term, they often pronounce it “wuh-KNOB-ee,” giving the word a faux-Indian sound. The term “Generokee” is also used.
What is it about being Native American that makes it so alluring that those with not a drop of indigenous blood claim to be NDN. In part, it comes from the over romanticized conception of what it means to be Native fostered by hollyweird, romance novels and distorted history. These band wagon self-created Natives are quick to play the race card when called out. Reminds me of Monty Python, “Help-help I’m being repressed!” Box checking Indians have been the scourge of every real hungry child on a poverty-stricken reservation for too long.
We have seen the tearful ocular outrage of the stoic environmentally bereaved Elder portrayed by the Siclician-American actor “iron Eyes” Cody (gee why didn’t Brando find a part for him in the Godfather).
We have witnessed the shameless self-aggrandizing of the phony Princess Pale Moon who feigned being American Indian to benefit the discredited American Indian Heritage foundation (http://www.outofthedark.com/FauxIndians/). That organization, and her serene highness, were behind the sublime craziness of the Miss Indian USA pageant and the ridiculousness of the “donation” of 1000 lbs. of beef liver to a remote Alaskan Native Village, in addition to being a stooge for the D.C football team moniker.
There is also the case of famed white supremacist Asa Earl Carter who penned the much-heralded tome the Education of Little tree under the pseudonym Forrrest Carter (The Education of Little Fraud).
Academia has been a bastion of robbed Native origins as seen by the likes of Ward Churchill or Jamake Mamake Highwater. That brings us to the most recent theft of Native identity to curry credulity and promote ones own status.
On May 4, 2017 the Native American Studies department of Oklahoma State University (don’t get me started on their mascot), announced the hiring of the soon to be infamous Gina Stuart-Richards (GSR). Seems as if Ms. Stuart-Richards became Mississippi Choctaw sometime between 2009 and 2015 according to how she presents herself on the cover of her Curriculum Vitae (CV).
I recently spoke with Dr. Stephanie Gray (non-Native), who has her PhD. in American Lit (focusing on Native American Literature), and taught GSR in her Native American Literature class at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, in fall of 2009. According to this former mentor of GSR the acolyte started as an archeology/anthropology (a shudder unto itself) student with an interest in Native American Studies to a braggadocios sycophant more interested in promoting herself than in producing solid research. It is also noteworthy that GSR confided to Dr. Gray that she had no way of proving any connection to Choctaw lineage.
Dr. Gray and describes her former student as someone who knows how to work the system to her own benefit. GSR manipulated her relationship with her professor to help navigate the streams of the academic world. Ms. Gray soon would tire of the ever-troubling antics of GSR and her efforts to ingratiate herself into the realm of Native Scholars and split ways with her young padawan.
Ms. Stuart Richards now proclaims that she is member (enrolled or not) of the Mississippi Choctaw Tribe. She has parlayed this tribal connection into a doctorate in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona. According to the evidence I have seen this effort to be Mississippi Choctaw is genetically infused as her white ancestors petitioned to the Dawes Commission to be identified as members of the Tribe in order to gain land and other considerations under the Dawes Act. The Commission found these claims to be unfounded and that the family were indeed, not Mississippi Choctaw. All of this information has been researched and can be found at (Ancestor Stealing Blogspot).
GSR dedicates her Master’s Thesis to the “determination and sacrifices” of her Native ancestors. Only problem is that the only determination and sacrifices made seems to be in the efforts to become actual members of the Tribe. Similarly, her Doctoral Dissertation waxes poetic in the dedication about rising to the expectations of her Native ancestors to being a person improving the lives of future generations of her Choctaw people.
Beyond the slap in the face of being yet another non-Native purporting to be an expert on the plight and realities of American Indians the real issue becomes what was taken from actual Native American students. Gina Stuart-Richards has applied for, received and STOLEN $146,400 in scholarships, tuition waivers, internships and stipends from other Native scholars who competed for these same funds (this is according to her own CV). That doesn’t count the salaries she has and is slated to receive that result from her false bona fides.
Cultural appropriation is a blight on all Natives. Theft of who and what we are robs of not just of the rights afforded to us under treat, trust and moral obligations (in this case financial support of our educational endeavors), it steals our experiences, trauma, history and part of our humanity. What it means to a Native person is an almost undefinable amalgam of sacred, geography, language, culture and connection to our ancestors. Please do not take that away from those who have had so much taken already.
“This is my life. I do not have any control over the pain and brutality of living the life of a dispossessed person. I cannot control when that pain and brutality is going to enter into my life. I have settled with having to deal with racism, pure and simple. But, I was not ready to have my pain appropriated. I am pretty possessive about my pain. It is my pain. I worked hard for it. Some days it is all I have. Some days it is the only thing I can feel. Do not try to take that away from me too.” — Patricia Monture, First Nations — Canada
Just my two dentalia’s worth.™
Andre Cramblit is a member of the Karuk Tribe and has proudly proclaimed this on every version of his CV since graduating from College.
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