Thomas King - PRETENDIAN!!

Thomas King, author of the Inconvenient Indian, confirms he is not Indigenous after new genealogical findings. What the actual f. Let's talk about it. Bonjour. Hi everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And honestly, to say I'm shook would be an understatement. And I want to add some context here just because it does come up every now and then. As an indigenous woman living in Canada, 90% of the time I'm consuming the same news you are if you are a non indigenous Canadian. I'm reacting the same way. We're watching what Carney does, we're watching what happens out west. I'm in Northern Ontario. What's going on on the east coast? How's the economy doing? What's pricing like? What's the interest rates? The same stuff, but every now and then a news story comes out and the divide returns because it's something that is a gut punch or of high interest and priority to Indigenous and maybe not so much to non indigenous. And that's what I'm wondering about the news that broke today on November 25th. And I realize you're watching this a week later. So I get up in the morning, do what I got to do, feed my cats so they don't revolt and leave, and I head into my office and I start doing things. And one of the things I do is turn on social media largely to make sure that the posts I put out actually posted. There was no glitches. And that's what I was doing. My normal everyday routine, probably still half asleep. And then I saw the article and, and this was a post put out because remember on Facebook you can't show share news in Canada. So this was a post by a group called Indigenous tv. And yes, I have it on the screen in front of me and I'm just going to read this to you so you are exposed to exactly what I was exposed to. Breaking news. Thomas King, author of the Inconvenient Indian, confirms he is not Indigenous after new genealogical findings. Not sure if I'm pronouncing that right. In a new exclusive interview with the Globe and mail, the 82 year old bestselling author says he recently met with the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds and a genealog genealogist who reviewed his family history. The findings showed no Cherokee ancestry on either side of his family, contradicting what he believed his entire life. I'm still in shock. All my life, I believed I was indigenous. King says he never knowingly misrepresented himself, explaining that family stories led him to believe his paternal grandfather was Cherokee. For decades, King was widely known, taught and celebrated as an Indigenous writer. He acknowledges receiving grants and opportunities intended for indigenous creators. I have received financial grants and other benefits from being seen as Indigenous. That was a quote. He describes the discovery as a devastating moment in his life. This pretty much means the end of me. It's a brutal end, and I expect the worst. Goes on to say, Read the full article, A Most Inconvenient Indian on the Globe and Mail. Gut punch. Now, why I wanted to do this video was because I had the same gut punch when it was revealed that Buffy St. Marie was not indigenous. And honestly, when Buffy's story broke, I thought it was bs. I thought they were attacking one of our own. I was ready to go to her defense. And that was all based on a Fifth Estate investigation. So I thought, you know what? Before I say anything, I'm gonna go watch the Fifth Estate. I'm gonna go find out what they discovered. And. And so I know what I'm talking about. And by the end of the Fifth Estate, I was bawling my eyes out and realizing it was true. And. And whether you understand why that would be devastating or not, trust that it was. And I've done the videos on that. You can look on my channel. So this hearing about Thomas King was a gut punch. And I had to sit with it for a minute, and I was like, but this feels different. This I. It feels different. So what I did was, I'm just going to call this up here. I shared the information, of course, but I wanted to share it with you, too, because I'm not bawling my eyes out, and it just feels different. So before I say anything else, I'm going to share with you what I shared on my Facebook page and on LinkedIn. So here it is. Like so many this morning, I am stunned at the news. But this time is different for me. This time there is no anger. This time there is respect for the man who wanted to make sure, who sought to make sure, putting in incredible effort to find the answer. This was not a man pursued by others, but a man on a quest. A man who so easily could have kept his secret. A man who respected and loved the indigenous peoples he thought he was part of for so long enough to not do that. He practiced the seven grandfather teachings. Truth, honesty, humility, respect, love, wisdom, and bravery. But having said that, I Believe his story is yet another heads up to the non indigenous Canadian institutions hiring indigenous. Surely there have been enough examples now to know you don't hire someone who believes they are indigenous. To truly work with those that know indigenous and can support indigenous in a way that resonates. You must hire the people we know. The people known by their community. The people with familial ties in present day, not just the past. Those who do not know they are indigenous but who can actually prove it with letters of support and yes with a status card. Nothing for us or about us, without us. It's time to start truly hiring us. And to Thomas King, you have my respect now and always a ho. The thing that sits with me that makes this different is in every other case of pretendions it was they were still insisting they were indigenous. It was other people that did the research and discovered that they absolutely were not. And Thomas King didn't do that. Thomas King had enough respect for indigeneity and that journey and the authenticity of that journey that when he started questioning he sought to find out. He didn't just say well they believe me. He didn't just pray that no one else looks into it. He looked into it. That's authenticity. That's a leader. That is someone I can respect now. Does that mean he should give back the accolades? Yes, I believe he should. And I believe in the bottom of my heart that Thomas King believes he should. That's why he wanted to know. My heart goes out to him. But what a beautiful example of bravery and honesty and humility. Like I said, he is the seven grandfather teachings in human manifestation. I am devastated. I his books are still amazing. The stuff he shares is phenomenal. He definitely knows knows what the indigenous experience is like which is why he's practicing the seven grandfather teachings. My heart is broken but there is no anger this time. There is no disappointment. It's now he's just a man I look up to because while that took guts and so many would just shh, don't say anything. So many would think what's the big deal? He knew. He knew it was a big deal. And to for that I say Chima gwich Thomas huge. Thank you. We got to do better. Let's learn from his example. There is and he is willing to stand in the line of fire to take what he thinks is going to be brutal feedback. And I'd be willing to bet he is going to get backlash from some. He's just not getting backlash for me. I said but I'm glad he found his truth, and I love that he shared it. Until next time. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye. Just one last thing before I go. This whole Buffy Saint Marie, Thomas King, so many other people, pretendions. Pretendianism is a thing and it causes pain. Which is why I created my new lunch and Learn. Because this just keeps coming up. So if you and your team would like to learn more about it, send me an email because we need to talk. We need to understand this so we can stop happening. She may take care. Of.