I was one of Liz Hoover's Native graduate student advisees at Brown and this is what I want people to know about the harm that false Indigenous identity claims cause Native people like me (Thread 1/6) @indianz #lizhoover #pretendian #NativeTwitter #Native indianz.substack.com/p/native-food-…
1) I was recruited to do Native American Studies research in Brown's American Studies PhD program (both the university and dept are great, btw). My enrollment, however, occurred under the false promise that I would have a Native advisor to see me through: Liz Hoover.
At the time, Liz was the only Native faculty member in the department and I simply would not have attended an institution without the ability to be mentored by at least one Native professor.
My need for this mentorship by a Native faculty member would, in my mind, support my research and scholarship, but also help in getting through grad school as the first person in my family to get a PhD. Things like navigating racism, balancing community commitments, and so on.
Liz had also attended Brown for grad school herself, so she represented that she knew this institution from both a student and faculty perspective, and had learned how to navigate it as one of a very small handful of Native folks on campus.
Long before this identity fraud came to light, Liz had turned from a help to a hindrance for me, but little did I know that the person I was made to believe would be mentoring me through academia was actually playing the system herself.
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