The academic world is facing another professor accused of misrepresenting her ethnic background. Andrea Smith, an associate professor at the University of California Riverside has written extensively on Native American subjects and long claimed Cherokee heritage. However, critics have said that Smith is no Cherokee — a scandal reminiscent of Elizabeth Warren scandal after her lifetime claim of being a Native American were debunked. Likewise a former University of Colorado professor and radical “Native American” writer Ward Churchill was found to have phony claims of being Native American. The question is what is the proper response of a school if an academic long claimed such a status, which comes with obvious benefits from schools seeking to diversify their faculties. On one hand, there can be a question of academic honestly while on the other academics can claim that they were acting in good faith on the basis of family accounts or misguided assumptions.
David Cornsilk, a Cherokee genealogist found no evidence of Cherokee bloodlines for Smith and added “Wannabes like Andrea use the myths of Cherokees hiding in the hills, passing for white or being saved by righteous whites, to perpetuate their lies.”
Cornsilk has said that Smith came to him repeatedly to establish Cherokee roots and that each time he told her that no such links existed. Critics say that Smith continued to represent herself as a Native American woman and a minority. Media reports state that various people confronted Smith about her claims to be a Cherokee in the past at academic conferences and appearances and claim that she promised to stop doing so.
Smith has not responded directly to reporters and it is not clear how much of the research on her background is being contested. She issued a somewhat encryptic statement that “I have consistently identified myself based on what I knew to be true” and that her belief was based on “what I knew to be true.” In a statement that drew comparisons to Rachel Dolezal, she added that she “will always be Cherokee.”
She also stated in a blog posting that “I have consistently identified myself based on what I knew to be true. My enrollment status does not impact my Cherokee identity or my continued commitment to organizing justice for Native communities.” It is not clear if Smith is still claiming to be an actual Cherokee and failed to show up on listings to some “enrollment” issue.
Smith received her Ph.D. in History of Consciousness at UC Santa Cruz in 2002 and her J.D. at UC Irvine School of Law in 2013. According to her faculty bio, she is the author of Native Americans and the Christian Right: The Gendered Politics of Unlikely Alliances and Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide. She is also the editor of The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Nonprofit Industrial Complex, and co-editor of The Color of Violence, The Incite! Anthology; Theorizing Native Studies,and Native Studies Keywords.
She is clearly identified as a Cherokee in this videotape:
The University has indicated that it will take no action on the allegation and that Smith remains a faculty member in good standing with the university. It further stated that ethnicity was not considered during her hiring. That later statement remains one of the most difficult issues for academics like Warren who listed herself as a minority for reporting purposes.
Source: Inside Higher Education
FYI,
RST Lakota counsel meeting just went live, video channel 93 today 7/16/15. Drop in, watch and listen. Official website is here.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrUgHaUYJ08gyvo9hjSkgPQ
See, I assume that people would NOT lie about this kind of thing.
Unless I have PROOF that these women are lying, I am going to give them the benefit of the
doubt, I have NO REASON not to.
and by the way, having Blue eyes and Blonde hair does NOT prevent somebody from being part Native American. So, Warren being blonde and blue eyed does NOT mean that she doesn’t have any Native American blood.
http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/249
and just some people who are claiming to be Native American and having blonde hair, and blue eyes.
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091102235107AA5EwP6
In all fairness, thousands of Americans have inherited family legends of being descended from an “Indian princess.” Thousands have also inherited family legends that their ancestors stowed away on a ship. Even with all the incontrovertible evidence in the world, it’s next to impossible to convince these people that their family legends are erroneous.
These people should jointly release a new book: Conquest: Whites Lying About Minority Status Take Advantage of Affirmative Action
But what she “knew to be true” was that she was not Cherokee. In fact, she had promised on several occasions to stop identifying herself as such.
A list of just the most recent high profile people either teaching in academia or having otherwise exploited affirmative action under fraudulent claims to be minorities:
Rachel Dolezal
Elizabeth Warren
Ward Churchill (and you should really watch his interview with Dinesh D’Souza in America to see what kind of vile hatred is taught in universities)
Andrea Smith
If there are no real consequences for lying to exploit Affirmative Action or similar advancement policies, than why aren’t the rest of us claiming “American Samoan?” That’s one of the most rare groups, and must be guaranteed to get us a job teaching about the “American Samoan Woman’s Struggles” at some college. Why were all those qualified Caucasian males passed over at the police department for less qualified African American males just to fill a quota? All they had to do was self-identify as black, and claim that race is too nuanced and complex for the public to grasp.
Karen, Warren did not get her job on ethnic basis, unlike Churchill and Smith who taught courses based on that as well. Warren taught financial law, and to my knowledge there are no major Indian tribes that have banks that are significant in those circles. The fact of her being female would have been of far greater consequence. I have to laugh at your reference to D’Souza being a source of ANY kind since he is a convicted FELON and cheat GREATER than Churchill! Sort of like Hitler complaining about how US segregationists treated US blacks.
randyjet – Elizabeth Warren’s fraudulent claim of being a Native American allowed her employers to tick one more racial equality box for the feds.
JAG,
That’s old news. Lakota RST counsel voted & fired AG and president. Lots of infighting. Check out Rosebud counsel meetings live on channel 93.
Here is one 7/15/15, then went into executive session with blackout. Big vote coming on 7/23/15. Politics is heating up on the REZ. Here’s the link.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrUgHaUYJ08gyvo9hjSkgPQ
I don’t suppose its too late to change my ethnicity.
There are five Navahos that just picked up their Ph.D.s. Now that there is an opening, one of them will get a job. Although, I will say, it is probably easier for the 5 of them to tick the diversity boxes than for me.
Why has it become popular to question peoples ethnicity?
@ Justagirl
I don’t know that it has become popular to question, but I do know that it has become pervasive to classify everyone into some sort of pigeon hole category. Dividing people by ethnicity, race, color, religion, political stances, gender bend. Instead of just being people we seem to have to know that a person is half black (whatever that means) half irish. 1/8 Cherokee.
Classifying. Pigeonholing. It is as if people can’t relate to someone without knowing what their ethnic or genetic make up is, because some people need to make others fit into preconceived stereotypes.
Frankly, I’m sick of this type of mindset that grades everyone and then wants to treat them as a group instead of as individuals. As if you are X then you must think and act the same way as all the other Xs and if you don’t you are either a traitor to your race (Clarence Thomas) or there is something wrong about you.
Also, a bit part of the questioning has to do with the fact that there are significant monetary benefits as well as career preferences for being/claiming to be a minority. The skepticism is that they are doing it to self benefit.
In reality a simple DNA test will show that almost everyone on this planet has multiple lines of genetic inheritance. We are all mongrels 🙂
As a long time dog lover and fur child parent, I can tell you that mutts are usually the smartest dogs around. I have had pure breeds for specific needs, but mutts have been the best all around dogs.. So I am proud of being the American breed,othewise known as mutts.
I also learned too late, that self identification is the ONLY test that is used on employment forms. That would have helped me immensly in getting a job with a major airline had I claimed to be Hispanic or black. Too late we get smart.
Unless I’ve missed something in this article, why create an imaginary story about this woman being told, for years, by family or others, that she was Cherokee? There is no mention of that here, is there? Sure, it’s a possibility, but there is no indication in JT’s article that this person was ever misguided regarding her ancestry or heritage. Enough with the excuses, made up out of whole cloth, giving these con artists, like Dolezal, justification for their obvious attempts to lie and manipulate others for their own personal benefit.
While they’re at it, if there’s a test to determine whether the claims of Cherokee ancestry are true, throw in a test to verify that this being is truly a SHE. I have my doubts.
Greg, I found an interesting follow up to that story. ..
and this is exactly why questioning peoples heritage like this, is just messed up…
It seems that she was NOT lying….
—————————————————
http://www.indianz.com/News/2014/012796.asp
In response to the allegation the Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Human Resources Department issued an official statement saying that Concha had never claimed Indian preference nor did she state in her resume or application that she was an enrolled member of any tribe.
“Due to the recent questions brought on stating that Rosebud Sioux Tribe’s Attorney General, Aisha Concha was claiming “Indian Preference” in her Tribal Application and/or resume a memorandum was asked to be written to clarify as to what was claimed or not in her Tribal application and/or resume,” wrote Benjamin Kitteaux Jr. “I certify that upon reviewing Ms. Concha’s Rosebud Sioux Tribe Application and her resume along with her Contract with the Tribe which are on file here in the personnel office, there is not any place that she claimed Indian Preference nor does she ever claim that she was enrolled with any Federally Recognized Tribe.”
During her investigation in to the matter, Whitebird sent an initial email to Taos Pueblo’s enrollment office asking for the status of Concha. Taos Pueblo responded by asking Whitebird to submit the request on an official letterhead from the tribe. After acquiring an official tribal letterhead, Whitebird resubmitted the request signed by her as a tribal member.
Taos Pueblo’s enrollment office would respond to the inquiry by sending a response stating that they did not have anyone on their official enrollment under the name of Aisha Concha to the tribe. However Taos Pueblo Governor, Clyde Romero Sr. did send a letter to the tribe saying that, “Aisha Concha is not an enrolled member of Taos Pueblo herself; however, she was raised on the Taos Pueblo and is considered part of the Concha family. Aisha is and always will be affiliated with Taos Pueblo.”
Romero also said that Concha’s father is an enrolled member of the tribe and that both her paternal grandparents were enrolled as well in Taos.
There are differences in such claims, just as there are in many crimes in terms of degree. I have no problem with a person such as Warren who believes old family lore and checks a box on survey forms to establish the composition of faculty as opposed to Churchill who consciously lied for personal gain by being a full professor with only a Masters Degree and teaching Native American course based on that claim . Warren on the other hand did not use her status to gain her position at Harvard teaching financial and corporate law. The fact of her being female was probably of FAR greater consequence than any claim of ethnic background. Then there is the rather obvious fact, that if she had any Native American blood it was so small as to be disregarded completely since she is blond, and blue eyed. Both of which make it highly unlikely that she had no more than 1/64th such blood and is thus of no consequence. I had some friends when i was young who claimed that they had some slight Indian blood too. I seriously questioned that since they too had blue eyes and red hair.
I think it of FAR greater significance that Jeb Bush while a state official lied on his LEGAL documents that he is Hispanic, his voter registration! This is an intentional effort to gain political points, no crime, and an attempt to skew voter reporting to show less discrimination than actually exists and commit fraud to get out of Federal oversight, which is a crime. So if Warren and this woman at question should be pilloried, then a PROVEN liar and cheat, Jeb Bush should be held to the SAME standard at least, if not a higher standard since he is running for President. I hope that all the GOPers here will now demand that Bush withdraw from the race, Presidential one, not the white race as he tried to do. Though I would not mind if he could leave the white race either. We have enough cheats, liars and crooks, and I wish some other race would claim him. I think the Cuban whites will take him in since he is the right color and character of theirs.
It’s a societally evolutionary tail to be differentiated in any way because one is Black, White, Hispanic, whatever. However, due to our imperfect society, following an extremely less than perfect past, we adjust for our historical segregations, genocides, slavery, etc and the fall out of which we find ourselves in today. We are as a society racist, bigoted, and segregationist to a degree. The good part is that we recognize this and are making moves, some effective, some ineffective, some brilliant, some stupid, and some not at all to rectify our past inequities.
In doing this we recognize the baggage certain individuals carry because of our society’s past crimes. This is a hugely controversial subject. The goal is to eliminate any need for these adjustments. There are ample examples of people who need, can benefit, and can move society beyond these adjustments.
There is a certain damage done to all this by people who attempt to be part of that part of our society that has been damaged and is being targeted by both good and bad intentions. The self inclusion into a group of which one has no actual part in order to profit personally be it in self importance and/or other recompense is somewhat sociopathic.
These women showed an incredible lack of understanding in trying to include themselves in something of which they may or may not have felt strongly. There are many ways to contribute but the objective is to what one contributes. These women have personal problems regardless of what they think they are achieving. Their actions degrades the importance of their causes. There is already enough weakness to be found in these causes in the 1/64th Sioux, 1/12th Black, etc.
You don’t need to be 1/16th anything to understand what is right and what is not right.
JAG, Some people really change from childhood to adulthood. I have a cousin like yourself. Everyone called her “China doll” when she was a toddler, and she was Italian. Now, she’s in her 50’s and looks Italian. Other people, you look @ a picture of them when they’re a toddler and it’s clearly the same adult face, just aged w/ time.
Nick,
100% correct. The race for special treatment creates the fraud.
If UC Riverside said that they didn’t take into account her Cherokee background, they are lying.
Just another liberal saying that she’s someone she’s not for her own benefit
By the way, I should say I USED to look Asian… and I KNOW I did… Now,
Strangely, I look totally white… 😀
By the way, I NEVER mention the Cherokee….
People only ask me because I look Asian, so they are curious about my heritage.
I usually only say French, Hungarian, English and Irish… this is because of these
make up how i look and because of my family names.
By the way, I could be part Swedish, I would NEVER admit it though… 😀
Here’s the problem. Federal Indian vs. sovereign Indian and the BIA.
All too often, sovereign tribes fear someone will try to sneak in and convert them to a federal system.
That’s what happened at Rosebud Sioux, SD. This time it was an Attorney General pretending to be an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe. The AG got caught.
http://www.lakotavoice.com/2014/11/23/attorney-general-concha-lies-about-being-indian-makes-racist-comments-against-indians/