Margaret Noodin, Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “Despite admitting she does not have documentation of an Indigenous ancestor, she said she grew up believing she was Indigenous because of what her family told her.” The article is from Milwaukee’s Journal-Sentinel, and there’s something called a “blood quantum” involved in establishing indigeneity.
Stephen: So many pretendians say some version of this, which is simply an admission of bald-faced delusion. At best. Given the immense benefits (esp. in Canada) of being taken for indigenous, calculated self-aggrandizement seems more likely the cause.
UD: Does the notion of “authenticity” encourage such delusions? Buffy might have thought her songs had more purchase if her audience believed she was singing about her ancestors. With Margaret Noodin, there might have been a baser motive, ticking a diversity box is a plus for hiring and promotion. The story is not out of a state flagship or an Ivy, otherwise it’s likely the Pajamas Media sorts would already be all over it.
From there, things get more complicated. One of Noodin’s students, with a clearer native genealogy, claimed he wouldn’t have taken her language course had he known she was, to be crude, white. Does that change the reality that she’s devoted a career to researching and conserving what would likely otherwise be a lost language?
So, too, with “calculated self-aggrandizement.” Ever since Roots, genealogy has become a pastime for people who aren’t Mayflower descendants (oh, hi.) Combine that with a change in the way the Census classifies ethnicities, and you get what looks like an increase in pretendians. That might be where the “blood quantum” comes in. My source for that Census assertion is a recent Washington Post article that New England Ancestors brought to my attention in their weekly newsletter.
Enjoy the beach. The Festive Season music rotation is upon us.
Stephen: Although grandiose self-delusion no doubt plays a role, I’m convinced (having followed the subject) that it’s 90% cynical self-advancement. I doubt attraction to a more “authentic” identity plays much of a role at all.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:29PM
Margaret Noodin, Wisconsin-Milwaukee. “Despite admitting she does not have documentation of an Indigenous ancestor, she said she grew up believing she was Indigenous because of what her family told her.” The article is from Milwaukee’s Journal-Sentinel, and there’s something called a “blood quantum” involved in establishing indigeneity.
October 31st, 2023 at 10:40PM
Stephen: So many pretendians say some version of this, which is simply an admission of bald-faced delusion. At best. Given the immense benefits (esp. in Canada) of being taken for indigenous, calculated self-aggrandizement seems more likely the cause.
November 1st, 2023 at 10:51AM
UD: Does the notion of “authenticity” encourage such delusions? Buffy might have thought her songs had more purchase if her audience believed she was singing about her ancestors. With Margaret Noodin, there might have been a baser motive, ticking a diversity box is a plus for hiring and promotion. The story is not out of a state flagship or an Ivy, otherwise it’s likely the Pajamas Media sorts would already be all over it.
From there, things get more complicated. One of Noodin’s students, with a clearer native genealogy, claimed he wouldn’t have taken her language course had he known she was, to be crude, white. Does that change the reality that she’s devoted a career to researching and conserving what would likely otherwise be a lost language?
So, too, with “calculated self-aggrandizement.” Ever since Roots, genealogy has become a pastime for people who aren’t Mayflower descendants (oh, hi.) Combine that with a change in the way the Census classifies ethnicities, and you get what looks like an increase in pretendians. That might be where the “blood quantum” comes in. My source for that Census assertion is a recent Washington Post article that New England Ancestors brought to my attention in their weekly newsletter.
Enjoy the beach. The Festive Season music rotation is upon us.
November 2nd, 2023 at 10:48AM
Stephen: Although grandiose self-delusion no doubt plays a role, I’m convinced (having followed the subject) that it’s 90% cynical self-advancement. I doubt attraction to a more “authentic” identity plays much of a role at all.