A professor in California who used Native American heritage to secure grants and sell books is facing calls to resign after admitting that she is not actually Mohawk. The Telegraph has the story.
Elizabeth Hoover, a professor of sociology, confessed in a statement on Monday that she was not a member of the Mohawk and Mi’kmaq tribes.
Prof. Hoover’s purported Native American heritage boosted her career, paving the way for fellowships, academic posts and getting her work published.
“Before taking part in programmes or funding opportunities that were identity-related or geared towards under-represented people I should have ensured that I was claimed in return by the communities I was claiming,” she admitted.
However, her mea culpa failed to satisfy 300 students and academics at the prestigious University of California, Berkeley, who demanded she quit.
“I am a white person who has incorrectly identified as Native my whole life, based on incomplete information,” she wrote.
“In uncritically living an identity based on family stories without seeking out a documented connection to these communities.” [sic]
As an academic, she said, she should have conducted thorough research into her ancestry.
“I interpreted inquiries into the validity of my Native identity as petty jealousy or people just looking to interfere in my life,” she added.
“As such, I allowed my ego to drive my response and answered these inquiries with my family’s story, rather than doing the proper research for the correct documentation to unequivocally prove that I was descended from these communities.”
One academic has called for tougher repercussions. Desi Small-Rodriguez, an associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that resigning was insufficient.
Prof. Small-Rodriguez, who is of Northern Cheyenne and Chicana descent, tweeted: “The opportunity to resign is not appropriate. Elizabeth Hoover has admitted to professional misconduct, research ethics violations, harming Native students and colleagues, and violating tribal research sovereignty!”
It’s amazing how many people want to be numbered among the oppressed these days.
Worth reading in full.
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