We interview Sherman Alexie, Native American author and top-tier Substacker, about Pretendians like Sasheen Littlefeather and Buffy Sainte-Marie, who steal trauma for their own status. We also discuss:

* The ruse of the word “indigenous”

* How inclusivity plays out in a younger generation of “defendians”

* “I grew up in hell”: hard life on the rez

* The genetic link of blackout drinking

* You wake up naked on the top of a hill, what do you do?

* You should be so lucky to have an ancestor named Thunder Meatflayer

* Will the current surge in Indian film and TV creation continue?

* The “shocking and amazing” classic novel Sherman just re-read

* Scorsese Scorsese Scorsese