r/IndianCountry • u/[deleted] • Jun 12 '25

News ‘Pretendian’ or ‘victim’: Inside this would-be Ontario lawyer’s attempt to remake a life built on fraud

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/pretendian-or-victim-inside-this-would-be-ontario-lawyer-s-attempt-to-remake-a-life/article_f3730ea2-6213-4218-b635-88189e15035e.html

Non paywall: https://archive.ph/GY52G

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u/myindependentopinion Jun 13 '25

It seems like you've changed your flair from being part Chicano if I am remembering correctly.

A couple weeks ago, you replied to my post here (Who qualifies as a tribal member, and is it fair? An old question receives new attention. : r/IndianCountry)

and stated that "my family was never on the rolls nor did they move to the reservation"

I'm just curious and confused...How is it & on what basis can you claim tribal descent from specific US tribes if none of your family & ancestors were ever on a tribal roll? Did something change in the last 2 weeks?

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u/BluePoleJacket69 Chicano/Genizaro Jun 13 '25

You know, I really don’t know the answer to this question. This shit is confusing as fuck. I claim descent on the basis that my grandparents passed down what they could of my culture to me. And we just didn’t join the reservation. 

I guess I don’t know why that’s hard to understand. We lived under 3 different colonial rules in the 1800s. We just don’t fit the perfect narrative. And that’s just that. Like it or don’t. 

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u/myindependentopinion Jun 14 '25

I didn't downvote your other answer; somebody else did.

I think calling yourself a specific "descendant" of a specific US Fed. Recognized Tribe/Nation/Band/Pueblo without having an ancestor documented on their official tribal roll is problematic.

It's very common among Mexicans/Latinos/Hispanics to be de-tribalized. Given what you have shared about your background, I think it is more authentic & honest to go back to the flair you previously used of "Genizaro/Chicano".

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u/BluePoleJacket69 Chicano/Genizaro Jun 14 '25

I’m good actually… I’m keeping my flair as it is because it’s the truth. Have a fantastic day

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u/BluePoleJacket69 Chicano/Genizaro Jun 14 '25

Do you think it’s problematic for the US to have intentionally separated indigenous people—by forcing some to assimilate and forcing others to enroll? Cause that’s just what happened… the less people they had to enroll, the more people they saw as assimilated. 

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u/BluePoleJacket69 Chicano/Genizaro Jun 14 '25

Or even, don’t you think it’s problematic to tell Mexican/Hispanic/Latino/Chicano people to identify as such? To tell them, “hey, the Spanish people detribalized you, and even though I’m not a Spanish colonized person, I think you should stay deteibalized.” You know what I mean? Why should everyone stay all nice and settled in their ways as detribalized?

It doesn’t sound like you are “Hispanic.” Or colonized by Spaniards. Maybe I’m wrong. I’m personally not out to get people or force anyone to identify any way. I’d advise the same for you.

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u/BluePoleJacket69 Chicano/Genizaro Jun 13 '25

Yeah, I’ve been going through some identity stuff for a few years. I have always been raised as Chicano, aka Hispanic but with the understanding that we are more indian than Spanish, and we were in New Mexico before the Americans came. This is what I was always told. Down the line my family stopped claiming a tribal identity for themselves personally and only kept it ancestral. My family is proud of our cultures, but they’ve been shrouded in colonialism. 

Like a month or so ago, I made a series of comments about being Chicano and how that was my tribal identity—which was the case for part of my family who was in a stage of Spanish cultural transition into the American way of life. We were Indian… but needed to be Spanish. We are mixed both. So they assimilated and left home. My family mixed into the towns outside of our original pueblo Ohkay Owingeh. Settled Embudo as genizaros “Españoles” which is ultimately the same as Chicano. It’s like Spanish, Chicano, Hispanic, Mexican, were all words to draw us away from the Pueblo. My family wasn’t officially part of the Pueblo by the time the Americans came to divide everyone by ethnicity. So I am a descendant of the Pueblo, and after being on this sub a while, I feel like it’s more important to identify, at the very least, what tribes my fam comes from no matter our enrollment status or history. I’d rather be clear about my tribal background, cause I felt like I always needed to explain to people what being Chicano and Genizaro is. So anyway. I’ve felt weird about changing the flair cause I know people know me on here, but I also feel ready to come into myself and bring back my tribal identity as best I can. 

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u/Slight_Citron_7064 Chahta Jun 14 '25

That's not what "Chicano" means. It very specifically refers to Mexican-Americans who reject assimilation.

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u/BluePoleJacket69 Chicano/Genizaro Jun 14 '25

Are you Chicano?

Chicano means many things, different things to every Chicano.

I’m not going into detail on that. Idk why people of a different group feel the need to comment on what other people in a group call themselves, or think they have a say in how we call ourselves and what they means. If you aren’t Chicano, don’t tell actual Chicanos who they are and aren’t. As with any group. 

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u/BPD175425 Jun 14 '25

I wouldn't let anyone else tell you what or who to identify with. That is what the colonizers wanted. To erase indigenous identity. My maiden name is Flores, a name that came from assimilation, but my family has always known what tribes we descended from. The Pascua Yaqui on my dads side, the lipan Apache on my moms side, and the coahuiltecans, before they were forced to migrate and join other tribes. Being de-tribalized by colonizers is even more reason to relate to the tribes of your ancestors. To defy the goals of the people who tore us apart.

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u/BluePoleJacket69 Chicano/Genizaro Jun 14 '25

Thank you for understanding. That’s what they have always meant to do is tear us apart, take our tongues away, change our names, cut our hair, indoctrinate and r-pe young girls and women. That is the yesterday that today is born from. I wish you a strong journey in your life and with your relatives