More in store for 'Unsettling Genealogies'
Or, how The New York Times published a Pretendian
It’s the final week of “Unsettling Genealogies: A Forum on Pseudo Indians, Race-Shifting, Pretendians and Self-Indigenization in Media, Arts, Politics and the Academy” and there’s a new session on the schedule. It’s one you definitely don’t want to miss.
Serene Zhaamengwa Lawrence (Ojibwe / Hopi / Assiniboine) is joining the conference on the evening of Thursday, April 14, 2022, to share her Pretendian story. And it’s a big one — the level of fraud reached all the way to The New York Times, the supposed paper of record in America.
Long story short: Lawrence exposed a Pretendian in her own family circle! She called out her former step-mother for appropriating the tribal identities of the late Dr. Blake Lawrence, a Hopi and Assiniboine man who was one of the first Native physicians in the country.
Using the stolen identities of a real Native person, Claudia Lawrence aka Claudia Caruthers convinced The New York Times to let her write about Deb Halaand’s historic nomination as Secretary of the Interior. Yes, you read that right. The paper of record allowed a Pretendian to speak for “our community” and even headlined her piece as a “Warning” to a trailblazing Native woman.
In the opinion published on December 29, 2020, about a month after Haaland was nominated, Ms. Caruthers even trotted out a harmful and stereotypical trope. She warned that our very own Auntie Deb might be labeled as a “Hangs-Around-the-Fort Indian” should she not act in the best interests of “our community.”
Yes, you read that right. A Pretendian warned Deb Haaland — who overcame hurdles to become the first Native woman to lead the Democratic Party in New Mexico, to become one of the first two Native women elected to the U.S. Congress, to become the first Native woman in a presidential cabinet — to act right.
In other words: The New York Times let a non-Native person lecture the most prominent and accomplished Native woman in U.S. politics, solely based on the person’s fraudulent claim of being Native. Talk about pulling the ultimate Karen!
So now you might be wondering what happened when The New York Times learned about Ms. Caruthers being a fraud? Well you’re just going to have to tune into the conference to hear from Serene Zhaamengwa Lawrence / BossKwe herself!
Still, you can guess what unfolded, as Pretendian exposés follow a familiar pattern of Pushback, Denial, Gaslighting and even accusations of Bullying, Harassment and Lateral Violence. All of the harm is dumped on the Native person who comes forward. It’s a tough burden to bear for a Native person who tells the truth.
But if you want to learn the truth, there’s still time to register for this important addition to Unsettling Genealogies at https://bit.ly/3tRDgWV and join the Zoom at 7pm Eastern on Thursday, April 14, 2022.
Yet if you’re wondering how The Times officially reacted to being duped, you can read the “Editors’ Note” now attached to the Pretendian piece. It took them OVER A MONTH to admit something was wrong.
To wit, on January 29, 2021, The New York Times Opinion Editors wrote:
“In proposing this essay to The Times, the author, Claudia Lawrence, represented herself as Native American. Though she does not explicitly identify herself as Native in the article, the references to “our community” and “we” in connection with the Native American community create the impression that she is Native and writing from that perspective.
After publication, The Times learned of an allegation that Ms. Lawrence is not Native American, and editors conducted a review. When asked, Ms. Lawrence was unable to provide evidence of Native ancestry; she is not an enrolled member of any federally or state-recognized tribe. If the editors had known that there were questions about her connection to the Native community, this essay would not have been published until those questions had been resolved.”
In other words, the opinion editors at the paper of record wouldn't have published “Claudia Lawrence” had they known she wasn’t really who she claimed to be.
No apology to Secretary Haaland for the “warning” from a Karen clear across the country. No apology to the real Native family of the late Dr. Blake Lawrence. No apology for perpetuating a harmful stereotype against Native peoples.
“The beginning of any truth and reconciliation must be the truth! We need the truth, immediately, from @Nytimes, on this issue,” President Fawn Sharp of the National Congress of American Indians, another prominent Native woman, wrote on social media over a year ago, on January 18, 2021.
Yet it wasn’t just The New York Times that got roped into the Pretendian fraud. Because Pretendians like to put their hands in many pockets!
Yes, Claudia Lawrence aka Claudia Caruthers even told the Native American Journalists Association that she was Native. According to NAJA, she applied in November 2020 “as an individual professional member – a membership designated for Indigenous members – in November 2020” so basically a month before she got published.
Yet when asked about her claims of being Native, Ms. Caruthers changed course — maybe to that infamous fort in her imagination? According to NAJA, she “requested to rescind her membership and as of Jan. 21, is no longer a member.”
“The NAJA board of directors condemns false claims of Indigenous identity and will take appropriate action when those claims are used to gain membership in the organization,” a January 22, 2021, statement labeled “NAJA responds to Lawrence membership inquiry” reads.
Meanwhile, educated enrolled tribal members continue to be ignored or dismissed off-hand by academia, publishers and press despite well-reasoned arguments, research or opinions.