Have you read news reports about false claims to being Native? Back in 2021 I started Native? Or, not? A Resource List of items I had read and thought others would find helpful. In 2023 I started a second list focused on challenges to groups in Vermont, in particular, because within children's literature, Joseph Bruchac is well known (I no longer recommend his books).
Today I'm point you to Blood Sport by January Rogers and real ones by katherena vermette. Both are meant for adult readers but if you work with high school students, take a look. They might work in your classroom.
Written as a play, Blood Sport is a satirical comedy about Native identity and who can claim it. The Foreword is by Dr. Kim TallBear. I highly recommend that you read her work on this topic. Several items on my resource list are by her. In Blood Sport, we meet a gameshow host and contestants who answer questions about who they are. It is an intriguing treatment of the topic.
My copy of real ones arrived a couple of days ago. In places where Native people talk about false claims, we often talk about children of those who make the claim. In vermette's book, there are two sisters whose father is Native. But their mother? Well, she's fabricated a claim. She knows it is not true and her daughters do, too. I've just started reading it and am definitely pulled into the story. A reporter has gotten in touch with the daughters, asking them about their mother's claim.
Get both books! From what I've seen, Native readers are excited to read them. Excited doesn't feel like the appropriate word. The larger point is that false claims to a Native identity are not innocent. They are harmful to anyone who is taken in by a false claim, and harmful to Native people. Books like these two help us find words to talk about why pretendianism is--to use the word January Rogers used--a crisis.
