Impacts of Indigenous identity defamation decision open to debate

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A successful defamation lawsuit in Saskatchewan against an Indigenous identity researcher has people talking about its possible impacts.

Celeste Pedri-Spade, who is Anishinaabe from Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation and an associate professor in anthropology at McGill University in Montreal, said she found its implications for academic freedom, particularly the freedom to conduct research on Indigenous identity theft, distressing.

"This case signals to Indigenous and allied scholars that challenging race shifting and ethnic fraud may invite legal sanction, even when Indigenous institutions later actually validate the concerns," she said.

"I think it undermines and steps on the sovereignty of the nation."

Celeste Pedri-Spade says following the Saskatchewan defamation decision there's a petition to Defend Academic Freedom Scholars Researching Indigenous Identity Fraud in Canada, initiated by Indigenous scholars. (Submitted by Celeste Pedri-Spade)

Michelle Coupal, an associate professor at the University of Regina and Canada Research Chair in Truth, Reconciliation, and Indigenous Literatures sued Darryl Leroux for defamation over a number of statements he made between 2021 and 2022.

Leroux, an associate professor in political studies at the University of Ottawa, researches the phenomenon of false claims to Indigenous identity and runs the website Raceshifting. 

At the time, Coupal was a member of Bonnechere Algonquin First Nation, a non-status Algonquins of Ontario community near Ottawa. There had been disputes over whether Coupal's root ancestor was Algonquin for several years and in 2023, an Algonquins of Ontario tribunal removed that person from the AOO's ancestors list.

This month, a Saskatchewan judge ruled in Coupal's favour and awarded her $70,000 in damages. The ruling said the defamation was not the assertion that she was not Indigenous, but assertions that she committed fraud, pretended to be Indigenous and relied on forged documents.

"We're living in a world where you can assert an Indigenous identity without evidence and walk away with compensation because somebody experienced emotional harm or sort of hurt feelings," Pedri-Spade said.

She said that people who are in influential positions in academia should act with integrity and understand their identity prior to taking up space.

'Well-reasoned' decision

Chris Reid, a lawyer for Bonnechere Algonquin First Nation, said the ruling was "very well-reasoned." 

"It's not whether or not she's Indigenous. She acknowledges that, as it turns out now, she's not. But she, in good faith, thought she was," Reid said.

People doing this kind of research "should be careful about throwing around accusations like fraud and deception when they have no evidence for that," he said.

He said membership should be in the hands of the Algonquin people and "they are engaged in that ongoing process."

"It's not for governments or courts or anyone else to decide who is Indigenous," he said. 

Charlotte Hunter Louttit-Kijekijik is a lawyer and a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario since 2000 and chair of the Métis Nation of Ontario's 2-Spirit Council. (Submitted by Charlotte Hunter Louttit-Kijekijik)

Charlotte Hunter Louttit-Kijekijik, a lawyer and chair of the Métis Nation of Ontario's 2-Spirit Council, said she thinks the decision is fair.

She acknowledged the Métis Nation of Ontario has a "long and sordid history" with Leroux, who has done research for groups opposing the recognition of some Métis Nation of Ontario communities and territories.

She said there is a need for a "public discourse around appropriation of Indigenous identity by non-Indigenous people in Canada."

'Inappropriate appropriation'

Michelle Good, a member of Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan and a retired lawyer and author, said she wasn't surprised the ruling came out of a Saskatchewan court.

She said she feels there's a "naturalized discrimination" against Indigenous people woven into the justice system in that province. 

"We can give lip service to truth and reconciliation as a country," she said.

"We also have to recognize that this kind of inappropriate appropriation, if you will, of Indigeneity is unacceptable and must stop."

Michelle Good says she's not surprised the decision was from a Saskatchewan court. (Silk Sellinger Photography)

Good said people who've falsely claimed Indigenous identity "saw an opportunity and took it because it was in their personal self-interest to do it."

She said she's concerned the decision could encourage false identity claims, but added that identity and reconnecting with your ancestry is complicated.

She is a Sixties Scoop survivor and said for people who've been disconnected from their community or had their genealogy interrupted due to colonial efforts, it can be difficult for them to find their way back home.