Indigenous Identity Fraud: The Disturbing Case of An Emerging Trend – ICC
June 26, 2025
In recent years, high-profile cases of individuals falsely claiming Indigenous ancestry have emerged drawing public attention to a troubling phenomenon. The most notorious among these cases is that of award-winning singer Buffy Sainte-Marie, who for decades profited from a fabricated Indigenous identity.
More recently, other high-profile cases have surfaced, such as the case of twins from Toronto whose mother forged documents, claiming Inuit ancestry, to reap over $150,000 in scholarships reserved for Indigenous people.
Locally, it was revealed that a professor at the University of Winnipeg, whose research focused on Indigenous art curation, had falsified her Métis identity – with the Manitoba Métis Federation later confirming that they had no record of her in their system. Throughout her career she had amassed over $18 million in grants toward her research, many of which were reserved for Indigenous researchers.
