An art gallery has postponed an upcoming talk on so-called "pretendians."
While the Art Gallery of Hamilton originally confirmed the discussion titled Speakers of Truth: Pretendians or Indigenous Fraudsters would be going ahead, it sent out another email six hours later to say the event will be moved to a later date.
Gallery communications co-ordinator Aaron Lam said the organization has received overwhelming response to this event.
“To ensure the safety and accessibility for our multiple communities, we would like to take the necessary time to continue our consultations,” Lam told Village Media, adding a new date will be announced before the end of February.
“As part of our strategic plan, and our dedication to examining and understanding our responsibilities regarding Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action, we are committed to providing space for important and sometimes difficult discussions.”
'Pretendian' is one of several pejorative terms used to describe someone who falsely claims Indigenous identity, often for personal or professional gain.
This talk was designed as part of the gallery’s ongoing Speakers of Truth series. Led by Indigenous activists, protectors and educators, “topics essential to Truth and Reconciliation.”
Moderated by Lyndon George, an Ojibwe of the Kettle and Stoney Point First Nation, the event was to feature speakers Crystal Semaganis of the Ghost Warrior Society Against First Nations, Métis, Inuit Identity Fraud and Jeremy Bomberry from the Six Nations of the Grand River.
“This Indigenous-run and supported event will be a respectful conversation about the harm done to the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples by 'pretendians,'" the gallery said in its original release affirming the event would go ahead after receiving emails and phone calls from the public asking that it be cancelled.
"The talk will be an educational opportunity to explore a complex and important issue.”
For her part, Semaganis says she's happy the gallery is "putting the safety of our people first" and is now working on a list of safety recommendations to send to the gallery.
A Penetanguishene man, who identifies as a "proud two-spirit Métis member of the Georgian Bay Métis Community and registered Citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO), is one of those who asked that the event be cancelled due to the inclusion of Semaganis to "to speak on the sensitive issue" of pretendians.
“While I recognize the importance of addressing the misuse and falsification of Indigenous identities, I must assert that providing Crystal with a platform on this matter is both troubling and counterproductive,” Jason Francis Brown says in his letter to the gallery, noting that by hosting Semaganis, the gallery legitimizes her “division and misinformed position on the MNO.”
As well, the Métis Alliance of Canada called for a boycott of the event and asked members to “flood” the gallery’s general email account to have their voices heard.
While many on the group's social media network supported the effort, Dwight Aenloodiibwaa Madrusiak wondered about its logic.
"Is this not what we need to happen?" he asked. "Expose the fraud and loss of our identity and government funds going to wannabes."
In response, the alliance says that while it also wants to expose fraud, Semaganis and others don't just follow that path.
"They simply just target all Métis in eastern Canada as frauds and there are many legitimate Métis there," the group says.
Semaganis says she finds it ironic since she plans “on talking about the colonial violence imposed” by what she considers to be “pretendian clubs.”
“Everyone is claiming (to be) Métis nowadays,” she says. “Now, pretendians don't want anyone to hear about their grift, and the desperation is very apparent.”
While the Métis Alliance is based in the eastern Canada, the MNO receives more than $200 million in annual funding from the provincial and federal governments, something that upsets Semaganis, who is originally from Saskatchewan but now lives in Temagami in northern Ontario.
Semaganis says her organization, the Ghost Warrior Society, estimates that only 15 per cent of MNO members “are actually Red River (Métis). Forty per cent are non-status descendants of a First Nation and the rest are straight-up settlers.”
But Brown says Semaganis’ view that the Métis Nation of Ontario is a “fake” entity is “deeply harmful and dismissive of the lived experiences and documented histories of thousands of Métis citizens, including myself and my family.”
