Métis author katherena vermette on how "pretendians" damage Indigenous communities

The Sunday Magazine

False claims of Indigenous ancestry are nothing new in Canada. But recent accusations levelled against public figures like Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond and Michelle Latimer have put increased pressure on institutions and society at large to grapple with the phenomenon of so-called "pretendians." Métis author and poet katherena vermette joins David Common to talk about putting the tension surrounding "pretendians" at the heart of her new novel Real Ones, and why such figures can cause uniquely deep damage to Indigenous communities.