S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman. On this episode of KPBS Midday Edition , we explore ethnic fraud , tribal dis enrollment , and cultural appropriation with the author of Who Gets to Be Indian? This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Here's a question what does it mean to be indigenous in the United States? And what happens when that identity is commodified , and when people take on an identity that they're not? Well , these are just some of the questions that the book Who Gets to Be Indian explores. It looks at ethnic fraud , tribal dis enrollment and cultural appropriation , and what this all means for indigenous communities. Deena Giglio Whitaker joins me now. She's the author behind the book and a descendant of the Colville Confederated Tribes in Washington State. Currently she teaches at CSU San Marcos. Dena , welcome.
S2: Thank you.
S1: So listen. The book starts with your personal experience with Sachin Littlefeather. Remind us who she was and how your connection to her inspired this book.
S2: Flushing Littlefeather was famously known as the woman who rejected an Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando in 1973 , when he was when he won for his role in The Godfather as a protest against the way that Hollywood had been treating American Indians , and in the way that they were represented in film and in television. He he decided to reject the Oscar. And in his place , he sent this young woman who was , in theory , an American Indian woman up to the stage , dressed in full regalia to give this 78 second speech about why he was rejecting the award. And that cemented her place in history as the the Native American woman who rejected this Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando. And it was the first time that the Oscars had been used as a stage for protest , and I had gotten to know her in 20. It was a 2011 , I think it was , or 2012 as a journalist , when I was asked to write a story about her , and it led to this some experience with her , where she asked me to ghost write a memoir with her. And it was through this experience with her that I came to believe that she was not who she said she was. And so this this happened over a period of about ten years. And. And it came out of the book literally came out of a journal that she left in my possession , um , that she had given me a not asked , you know , for it to be returned. And then she passed away in 2023. Uh , a big story came out about her exposing her , uh , that she wasn't Native American. And then the ball started rolling downhill from there. And I wrote the book.
S1: Well , I mean , there there is a long history of , of this phenomenon called pretended ism. And you trace it in your book. So where does that history begin? Exactly?
S2: The way that I trace it is , is back to California in the film industry , and and I , I don't I want to be careful to point out that , that I don't believe it's the only place where this phenomenon begins. But it does have a special period in time in the film and the early film industry in Southern California in the around the turn of the century , uh , and , and how native ness becomes commodified. And it also has its roots before that in , uh , in the Wild West shows of the late 19th century , uh , with native people being hired to perform roles as Indian warriors in these wild West spectacles. And this is the the moment that native ness becomes commodified becomes something that you can make money on. Uh , and then it then it , it intensifies in the film industry and , and throughout the 20th century , it shifts and changes in these various ways with the changing social landscape of the United States. Um , with eras in the mid , like the mid 20th century , with the uh , termination era and the what's called the relocation program , where native peoples were systematically moved off reservations into cities and form these new kinds of communities and these , these new communities where native people find each other. We don't have the mechanisms of accountability built into them to check people's claims , like we have in tribal communities where everybody knows each other.
S1: Um , you know , how has native identity traditionally , um , been defined by indigenous peoples.
S2: Um , by native peoples themselves? They , you know , these are our societies were , uh , famously inclusive. Um , there was no concept of race , of understanding. You know what? This this concept that we call blood quantum. Uh , you know , that we now that now really , uh , adjudicates what Indian is , uh , is understood as or , you know , that is based on. But for native people , it's really about relationality and kinship that , um , if you are born into a native family , then you are native , and it's really as simple as that. But , uh , after the the imposition of federal law and rules , all of that changes in the , in the again , in the late 19th century with these very brutal policies , uh , about land and who gets land and the the breakup of the tribal land , land holdings , all of these complicated , uh , Laws are all tied together that bring these really complex new kinds of understandings about who native people are , and it's all really for the convenience of the federal government.
S1: Colonial colonialism really impacted how folks identify in the book. You share some of your own experiences grappling with your own identity. Talk about that if you if you can. How has colonialism and all these outside forces and policies shaped your own identity?
S2: Well , I talk about how I was raised in that era of that termination era that I just mentioned in relocation. Uh , this is one of the very , uh , oppressive periods of American history where the United States is , is moving people off the reservations in order to alleviate itself of its Responsibilities to them and to finally solve what they called their Indian problem. And , uh , and so during this , this period , you had many tribes who were literally terminated their political existence. They were no longer seen as Indians. And that was the government's overarching goal was to be done with all of it. And and so I was born in this era , and my mother , who was I , I sometimes refer to her as the last generation of Indians on the reservation. So first generation off the reservation , uh , my grandmother , her mother was born and raised there. My mother had spent some of her childhood there. And then by the time I was born , I am born completely out of touch with that , uh , with that culture in that community , um , all the way down here in Southern California. So , so it's really an exploration about what does it mean in this case for me to be Colville outside of that community? And it's a question I think a lot of people grapple with when they have been born and raised outside of their traditional communities. And , and , and further complicating it is the fact that I'm not an enrolled member of my tribe. I am considered a legal descendant , a lineal descendant. My mother was an enrolled tribal member , but because of those blood quantum rules , I don't count. And so all of that , all of those things combined really have has been a personal journey for me about what does it mean to be American Indian in the modern world was what does it mean to be Colville in , in the context of , of being an urban Indian? And as I write about in the book , it's not an uncommon experience. I , you know , over the years , as I've studied the topic , uh , became a scholar in American Indian studies. I really understood that my situation was not at all unusual , and that was one of the reasons I wanted to write this book , because all of these things are so complex. You know , where you have all these , um , you know , confusions about what it means to be native on one hand , and then you have this rising phenomenon on the other of people claiming to be native with no actual real connection to any kind of tribal community or ancestral heritage or anything like that. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. I mean , and what have you concluded? Like , what does it mean to you? Um , how do you and so many people who were raised outside of tribal community identify.
S2: What what my life's journey has been about is needing to reconnect to that community and to into that family. So it was a very intentional choice to , um , to reconnect. My mom had stayed connected , although it was distant over the , you know , became more distant over the years. Um , I have I've had to wrestle with the idea of what it means to be , you know , an urban native person , uh , you know , culturally and and where I've come to. And it's changed shift and changed over the years. But where I'm at right now is that I , I it who I am as a native person is inseparable from the culture that I come from. And so that means that I have to intentionally , uh , stay connected to that community. And it's hard to do because it's so far away up in Washington state , and I don't get to go back and participate in the community nearly as much as I'd like to. But I do the best I can , Uh , and and it's not enough for me to just settle for on this , you know , this quote unquote urban Indian identity. Um , and , and that's where we've been since the 1960s. Since that , that era , that termination era , you have an entire population of urban Indians , and that's that's their identity. Like Sachin Littlefeather , Littlefeather is a perfect example of that. She understood herself and described herself as an urban Indian , but she had actually no actual connection to any kind of tribal community , any kind of , um , heritage whatsoever. No family connections , nothing. So , so that urban Indian identity becomes a stand in and an easy explanation for people with no actual connections. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Earlier you mentioned that tribal membership is an important part of native identity. In the book , you have a chapter all about tribal dis enrollment. So how does dis enrollment work exactly? And how did you want to approach that topic in the book?
S2: So if we understand Indian is as a commodity or a commodity commodity , something that's been commodified , it's tied to capitalism , it's tied to resources and money. And we see this new phenomenon in the last 30 or 40 years of tribes , uh , who , you know , with the rise of gaming , you know , the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act , uh , there's , you know , there's a lot of wealth that's been generated in certain corners of Indian country , especially here in California. And , uh , the phenomenon that's arisen out of that is the drive to maximize profits , concentrate wealth in as few hands as possible. The way that you do that is by limiting as many members as you can. So those in power , you know , run the levers to make that happen. So this is tied up with political power inside tribal nations and tribal governments. And so , um , so we are at the the point now where we see over a hundred tribes that have engaged in this practice of dis enrolling and that that has increased the wealth of those who remain. And , uh , like I said , here in California , it's especially prevalent. So , um , so , you know , it's left in its wake , um , a lot of devastation , a lot of devastating , you know , impacts on people. So over 10,000 people have been dis enrolled from their tribes. And and that not only causes financial devastation , but also it has a huge psychological impact when you are now being told you're no longer an Indian. We don't recognise you , but nothing's really changed. There's still your relatives , there's still your family , there's still your people. But now they're telling you that you're not. And so you can imagine the kind of how harsh that that is for people.
S1: And have have certain people been disproportionately impacted by this dis enrolment process? Historically.
S2: I would I'm not sure that how to answer that certain people. Um , I would say that it's , you know , again , here in California , it we see a concentration of that just because there and it's not limited to California , but a concentration of it because just because there are so many tribes here in California and so much of the wealth that's been generated from Indian gaming is here. And , and so we can see this pattern of , uh , of dis enrollment that follows , um , these , these very small tribes that have , you know , engaged in this , this process of eviscerating their memberships. Mm.
S1: Mm. Um , next week , you'll be at a screening at CSU San Marcos that explores a lot of these same topics , particularly dis enrollment. The film is called Not Indian Enough. And.
S2: No , no , no. It's called it's called your. No Indian. Okay.
S1: Okay. Your it's called your no Indian. Uh , sorry about that. Let's get that right. And here's an excerpt.
S3: Imagine spending your whole life connected to a community , and then being told your entire family were no longer recognized by them.
S4: What is tribal dis enrollment?
S5: Dis enrollment is the elimination of an indigenous person's citizenship in their tribe.
S6: Why would anyone be dis enrolled? Oh. Casino money.
S5: If we are a tribe of 1000 and the number of members is reduced in half to 500. The remaining 500 tribal members just doubled their income.
S7: It's over money.
S8: They dis enroll your ancestor , and everyone who comes behind them in the lineal descent is gone.
S9: This enrollment is the new genocide of Indian people.
S1: Well , you've said before that your goal is to normalize difficult conversations around these topics in the 30s we've got left. What are your hopes for discussion of native identity and belonging.
S2: In the film event specifically? Yes.
S1: Yes. An individual? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. I am interested in gathering together a group of 400 people. We have that much room. We can accommodate that many people for for a sober and open minded conversation about what this enrollment means , how it impacts people And , you know , if we if we're lucky , you know , we can even talk about ways forward. How do we , uh , how do we mitigate this issue and create better futures for , uh , not just today's people , but but the , you know , generations to come? Because that's really who who we're talking about , you know , we're we're eliminating our own people and we we have to stop doing that.
S1: I've been speaking with Dena Giglio Whitaker. She's the author of Who Gets to Be Indian. Thank you so much. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.
