The Conversation: Universities’ work towards Indigenous identity policies signals difficult conversations

As written in The Conversation Canada by Frank Deer, professor, Faculty of Education. 

In recent years, members of the Canadian public have witnessed the misrepresentation of Indigenous identities.

Recently, we learned that University of Guelph professor emeritus Thomas King is not Indigenous. The highly regarded author of literary works such as The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America and The Back of the Turtle captured the imagination of readers interested in Indigenous experiences.

Both non-Indigenous readers, either less or more familiar with Indigenous lives, and Indigenous readers trusted and respected King. Many of us revered him.

In King, we had a source of literary representation that informed knowledge of the Indigenous experience, and inspired curiosity about who Indigenous people are — and how we might understand “their” or “our” knowledge, histories and experiences.

King’s situation is yet another in a queue of high-profile individuals such as Buffy Sainte-Marie, Carrie Bourassa and Vianne Timmons who have made dubious claims about Indigenous identities.

Read the full story in The Conversation.