The Impossible Question of Native American Identity

Sreen Marisol Maraji: I think Kim was really the person to crystallize for me what's at stake here when we talk about pretendians. People falsely claiming Indigenous identity take up resources that are set aside for Indigenous people, like scholarships or like diversity showcases Joey mentioned. Number two, when we have too many people who have no lived experiences Native people, they theorize in ways that do not protect our communities. They stole our children, they stole our land. Now they have stolen our representations, cultural artifacts, they stole Indigenous bones and blood to do scientific research on them.