🧵 - A Northeastern tribal perspective on the ethnic fraud and harm caused by Professor Elizabeth (Liz) Hoover who has falsely claimed a Mohawk and Mi'kmaw identity. #lizhoover #elizabethhoover
Hoover rose through the academic ranks at New England's most elite institutions, BA at Williams College, MA and PhD at Brown and held an Assistant Professor position at Brown for 10 years, while also heading the NAIS program.
She positioned herself to be an ally between Brown and local tribes. Therefore many people here befriended her in the hopes that these institutions would finally open their doors to our communities and establish meaningful relationships.
Instead she used her position of power to be seen as an authentic Native academic. She was the one who benefited from these relationships with local tribes. Not us.
Hoover benefited from her whiteness. Her light skin and long straight dark brown hair resembled phenotypes that Natives and non-Natives want to see in "authentic Natives". Most of us in the NE have some degree of African ancestry and are targeted by not looking "ndn enough"
I cannot stress this enough - do you think Hoover's decades long fraud as a Native academic would have been as successful if she physically resembled the tribes whose homelands she was a guest on? 🤔🤔
As the head of NAIS, Hoover issued this awful statement to denounce the Pokanoket tribe's protest to hold Brown Univ accountable for #landback - 375 acre site called Potumtuk where the seat of Metacom is. brown.edu/academics/nati…
Hoover literally tried to speak on behalf of local tribes to denigrate the Pokanoket. Mashpee, Aquinnah & Narragansett can speak for ourselves & issue formal statements as we see fit. There are also many from these tribes who do support Pokanoket. It's just really not that simple 
To think, someone, Liz Hoover, who not only was not a recognized member of her claimed tribes, but who was also not even any kind of documented descendant, had the nerve to say this. A yt person trying to tell us who is and isn't legitimately Native. Do you see the harm?
Something I had really hoped would happen during Hoover's time at Brown was forming bonds between Native students at Brown who are often not from this area, & local tribes. To Hoover's Native students who may read this, please know we wanted to build relationships with you.
Hoover's recent identity statement is a debacle. She claims just this year she finally researched her family lore. Someone who has multiple degrees, decades long career, tenured professor, only now decided to confirm family lore? I call BS!!!!!
She claims her family lore involves not being enrolled due to BQ. In order to know that you don't meet BQ, you would need to go through the application process of your alleged Mohawk ancestor and what their BQ was. But she only looked into all of this, this year? 🙄🙄
I especially loathe that she used BQ as a defense for not being enrolled. There are still tribes who use this IMO antiquated colonial process which has caused many Natives to not be enrolled. Hoover is not a victim of BQ. But there are many out there & she exploited their trauma
Lastly, I want to be unequivocal - I do not support Jacqueline Keeler's crusade which lacks any kind of methodology. Ethnic frauds cause harm. Jacqueline Keeler causes harm too. We can do better.
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