As promised, here’s my advice for Native grad students navigating a pretendian professor, based on my own experience 🧵 #NativeTwitter #pretendian #AcademicTwitter

https://twitter.com/ERuleDC/status/1583974531026145280

1. Prioritize self-care: Native students (current and former), you are who I’m most concerned about. First and foremost, take space to heal, acknowledging that there is real harm perpetrated by Indigenous identity fraud.

6) I did not want to have to address my experiences with Liz and have not until now when I do feel a right to clarify the nature of our professional connection, as well as a responsibility as a Native academic to let people know the consequences of her false claims. (Thread 6/6) Her identity statement makes clear that she is attempting to absolve herself through the good work she has supposedly done for Native students and communities, and I’ve seen others support this line of thinking since the news came out publicly.

5) Liz was not a mentor to me but she remained on my dissertation committee (not as chair) because I was doing Native studies research and she was the only professor on in my department who was as well. (Thread 5/6) Other Native studies faculty came to Brown after I had confirmed my diss. committee and was well into the dissertation process. Liz was also friends with these people, so I couldn't very well have asked Liz to step out and had someone take her place.

4) Liz Hoover used her (false) identity to create problems with potentially direct, material consequences during my PhD dissertation defense at Brown. (Thread 4/6) In the middle of my defense, with my whole committee present, she raised issue with me for incorrectly identifying her tribal affiliation. Obviously, I profusely apologized and was embarrassed for making what I was led to think was a simple but important mistake.

3) Although she claims in her Identity Statement to have done great work with Native students, Liz Hoover used her identity, power, and standing to publicly humiliate and belittle me while I was a Native grad student at Brown. (Thread 3/6) Once, at a NAISA conference, I was presenting a student paper, which many know is nerve-racking and intimidating enough. Before the session started, with people coming in, I was sitting on the panel up front and Liz was in the audience.

2) One of the reasons why our relationship deteriorated before I knew or suspected Liz Hoover of being a pretendian was due to what I thought to be a conflict over values and responsibilities that I associate with being an Indigenous community member. (Thread 2/6) Specifically, I wanted to use my grad school summers to intern/work for my tribe, the Chickasaw Nation, and in Native affairs. I felt strongly about this because I was going to school and living away from community.

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.