A Wisconsin woman who has made a name for herself as a community leader for queer indigenous people has been forced to admit that she is not an American Indian at all, but has been a white woman the whole time.
Kay LeClaire, who went by Nibiiwakamigkwe has claimed to be Native American who is a “two spirit” person. That is apparently new-fangled Indian talk for “non binary.”
Yeah, I’m rolling my eyes, too.
LeClaire has claimed she has Métis, Oneida, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Cuban and Jewish heritage. But a researcher recently looked into her background and found that instead of having all that exotic heraldry, she is really of German, Swedish and French-Canadian stock.
Missed it by that much.
According to the research by AdvancedSmite, “Over the past few years, LeClaire, who is a member and co-owner of the artist collective giige, has earned several artists’ stipends, a paid residency at the University of Wisconsin, a place on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force and many speaking gigs and art exhibitions, it was reported.”
This con woman has put out a statement saying “information has come her way” that she is a white woman.
Um… her with family, white parents, and white community as a kid didn’t give her that “information”?
Still, take a look at this interesting “apology.”
“I am sorry. A lot of information has come to my attention since late December. I am still processing it all and do not yet know how to respond adequately. What I can do now is offer change.”
“Moving forward, my efforts will be towards reducing harm by following the directions provided by Native community members and community-specified proxies.”
“Currently, this means that I am not using the Ojibwe name given to me and am removing myself from all community spaces, positions, projects, and grants and will not seek new ones.”
“Any culturally related items I hold are being redistributed back in community, either to the original makers and gift-givers when possible or elsewhere as determined by community members. Thank you.”
AdvanceSmite, who is a true Native American and an activist, was alerted to the fraudster when she was seen in ads using her full Ojibwe name to sell herself. But the activist said that Ojibwe people rarely use their full, ethnic names in public, preferring to use them only for ceremonial use or with close, tribal friends, not the general public. That raised AdvanceSmite’s suspicion.
It’s just another example of the Rachel Dolezaling or Elizabeth Warrening of Native peoples.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
