Thread by @RandazzoTweets

BREAKING/SCOOP/SHARE
"@nytimes published the Indigenous Rachel Dolezal. Trust me, she was my stepmother," says prominent Indigenous businesswoman, @BossKwe, COO of @8thgen.

@nytimes published Claudia Lawrence, alleged #pretendian, as 1st take on Deb Haaland in Cabinet.
(1 of 15)

Serene Lawrence is acclaimed COO of leading Native American art company @8thgen. Her career is dedicated to supporting authentic Native voices.

She alleges her former step-mother, white lady Claudia Caruthers, has stolen her father Dr. Blake Lawrence's tribal identity. (2 of 15)

@nytimes picks Claudia "Lawrence" to speak for Indian Country. It's awful: "some may brand her as a 'Hangs-Around-the-Fort Indian' ... One of my friends wrote, 'Our auntie has done it!'"

All of Claudia's aunties appear to be white ladies.

(3 of 15)

nytimes.com/2020/12/29/opi…

Check out Claudia "Lawrence" Caruthers (birth name) parent’s marriage records (white), her father's draft card (white), maternal grandparents census data (German immigrants, both sides.)

Family roots in Kenosha, WI (really).

Yet she claims otherwise ...

(4 out of 15)

Serene's father was a heroic Air Force vet & MD. Over a decade after his untimely death, his ex-wife appears to have taken his name and Tribal identity too.

@nytimes – everything I researched and published above, you should have found. What's next, too.

(5 out of 15)

Dr. Lawrence was son of Hopi (Moencopi) mom & Assiniboine (Sioux) father. He served rural Hopi/Pueblo as a medical doctor until his passing.

His parents’ Tribes are the exact Tribes his ex, Claudia, now claims as her own. Somehow he & his entire family didn't know.

(6 of 15)

Serene, who is enrolled in her mom's Tribe (Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) has not seen her former step-mother in decades.

She is stressed that she has to be the person to expose an obvious fraud.

Claudia “Lawrence” (pic) is not Indigenous, says Serene.

(7 of 15)

@nytimes is not alone. She also duped news magazine @Crosscut, which I have written for & respect. In interest of fairness, @Crosscut had a huge lapse of judgment & published an incomprehensibly awful, unintentionally hilarious column by Claudia.

(8 of 15)

“Being Native isn’t something removable like goggles — it’s an abiding perspective honed by lived experience,” Claudia writes.

No shit!

That’s Serene’s entire point.

How could you write that sentence, submit it, and publish it?

(9 of 15)

crosscut.com/opinion/2020/1…

I have been unable to verify a number of Claudia’s claims contained here.

If credentials are accurate, Claudia may face serious fraud accusations – even felonies – for misrepresenting herself as a Hopi-Assiniboine Indigenous woman while raising money/getting paid. (10 of 15)

Serene worked on a piece of her own with me about this experience & her career fighting appropriation.

We are submitting to @nytimes. If they are serious about accountability & representation, they will publish it.

If they don’t, we will elsewhere. (editors DM me)

(11 of 15)

You don’t have to take it from me.

Serene will be available for limited media as her busy schedule allows. She's a serious professional who deserves to have her voice heard.

DM me w requests.

(12 of 15)
eighthgeneration.com/blogs/blog/mee…

This is a huge failure of editorial scrutiny/taste.
In open competition with talented Indigenous writers, Claudia’s cliché, stereotypical, cringe-inducing approximations of a “Native voice” somehow was judged as best available by @nytimes.

That indicts the editors.

(13 of 15)

Serene asks @NativeActionNet / @najournalists to please comment.

"Moving forward, it would be helpful if orgs & institutions speak out about what they know so that #pretendians don't cause further harm in the future. We must insist on authentic representation."

(14 of 15)

Disclosure: I am a colleague of Serene’s through advising & representing the Snoqualmie Tribe, whom own @8thgen.

Here us celebrating Native Arts Week at @8thgen with its founder, acclaimed artist Louie Gong, Jay Inslee, & the Snoqualmie team.

(15 of 15)

Thanks to Serene Lawrence for being so bold, brave, fearless, & for honoring me with your story. Thx to Brittney Couture Photography for her photo.

Thx to Jaime Martin for tireless advocacy, fearlessness, editorial help.

Thx to Melissa Randazzo for her dogged research.

(/end)

---> From the President of the National Congress of American Indians (@NCAI1944)

Please see above, and look out for our communications, NYT Editorial: @katiekings @mcottle @lauren_kelley @JInterlandi @MaraGay @BrentNYT @AKingsburyNYT

Also: @IndianCountry @indianz @nativenews_net @TrahantReports

We appreciate storyteller and theater director Fern Naomi Renville (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate) speaking out directly in support of Serene and the need for truth.

I will have a very big update in the morning.

We encourage organizations who need to launch an internal review of their associations to do so if they have not already. Others have.

I am open for any who would like to comment as Serene requested in the interest of the truth.

BREAKING/UPDATE 1: Yesterday, respected Indigenous @8thgen COO @BossKwe alleged @nytimes published her white #pretendian fmr step-mom as Native take on Deb Haaland.

Last night, @nytimes launched internal investigation, spoke w/ me.

Serene's voice is creating accountability.

BREAKING/UPDATE 2: Also, it appears @NativeActionNet has removed alleged #pretendian Claudia Lawrence from Legacy of Leadership & 2020 Cohort page. No public statement yet.

Her bio for NAN is one of the most damaging documents in this conversation.

BREAKING 3: We have video of Claudia Lawrence directly identifying on video as a Native American and POC.
At 1:52 "Racially, I'm, um, Native American and white biracial ... like other people of color, [Native Americans] have a lot of high risk factors."

BREAKING 4: Ingenious Indigenous activists also captured some FB moments -- including Claudia mocking white ladies practicing 'diversity' without letting in POC.

I have left out a number of posts because inclusion of kids/minors that are innocent and don't deserve attn.

Claudia's self-identification continues: 14:50 "I'm a long-seeded member in the Northwest Native Community."

21:45 "We are a small community ... [Socia medial] has made a profound difference, especially for our youngbloods on reservation."

Alleged #pretendian Claudia Lawrence ends this interview in an unequivocal way.

23:25: "For native people in particular, we've lived in these lands since time immemorial ... these are our homelands."

She has not explained how she can claim these lands.

Lastly, Serene & I want to thank respected voices like @PresFawnSharp, @ccechohawk, @janeencomenote, @Fern_Renville for elevating this issue yesterday.

It is a major reason why this is being taken seriously. Cannot stress how imp is to have those shares/attn for accountability

Ty also to nationally recognized expert and respected Indigenous nonprofit leader @echohawkd3 for platforming this issue, as well. It's the voices from Indigenous leaders saying this matters that causes accountability.

ACCOUNTABILITY DAY: Mult sources say "Native" columnist Claudia Lawrence has privately acknowledged she has neither descent/citizenship from Hopi/Assiniboine.

@nytimes @Crosscut @najournalists: no excuse for delay. issue public retractions, give closure and thank @BossKwe.

@PresFawnSharp @jfkeeler @ccechohawk @echohawkd3 @Fern_Renville @janeencomenote: we'd appreciate your help in platforming the previous post so we can give Lawrence family closure and peace of mind.

Thank you for your leadership. We're almost there.

Serene's column on what it feels like to go through this & the importance of authentic Indigenous representation, needs to be run @nytimes. It's embarrassing if message is two #pretendians within a month meet your editorial muster but not a nationally recognized business leader.

BIG UPDATE: Native American Journalists Association on Claudia Lawrence: "A NAJA representative reached out to Lawrence to request proof of tribal affiliation earlier this week. In response, Lawrence requested to rescind her membership and as of Jan. 21, is no longer a member."

This is first comment by @najournalists, also addresses ability of white journalists to self-report Tribal affiliation like Claudia did, have credential listed w/o fact-checking. Every publisher I have spoken with has pointed to NAJA as org they will listen to on policy changes.

A link to the full statement: najanewsroom.com/2021/01/22/naj…

@Crosscut @nytimes

On another clarifying point, there's confusion around @NativeActionNet putting Claudia Lawrence in its 2020 Legacy of Leadership Cohort. It's not an award -- it's a "leadership program" for training and equipping Indigenous activists and leaders. They were not recognizing Claudia

For the record, I have corroborated Serene's account with multiple close relatives of Dr. Blake Lawrence about his onetime wife Claudia Lawrence faking an Indigenous identity. Additional claims have been shared that I am confirming, all of which make story worse, not better.