American Indians accuse ‘Choctaw’ professor of faking her ethnicity

American Indians accuse ‘Choctaw’ professor of faking her ethnicity
Gina Stuart-Richard (Image: University of Arizona)

How nice: a playmate for Sen. Elizabeth “Fauxcahontas” Warren!

A newly hired “Native American Studies” professor has been accused of faking her ethnicity, using data from U.S. census records and ancestry websites.

FakeIndians, a blog dedicated to unmasking people who falsely claim American Indian ancestry, asserts that Gina Stuart-Richard, who was hired by the University of Oklahoma to teach Native American Studies, is actually white, reported The College Fix Monday.

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Stuart-Richard, who will begin teaching at OU in fall 2017 and currently teaches Native American Studies at Montana State University, markets herself as “Choctaw” and “a Native from Oklahoma” on her MSU profile. While the profile links to the professor’s CV, which FakeIndians alleges includes the line “Mississippi Choctaw,” the link would not load at time of publication.

“She has not one drop of Choctaw blood,” maintains FakeIndians. “I went back and looked at six generations of Gina Stuart-Richard’s line, and every last person is listed as white.”

The site traced Stuart-Richard’s ancestry back to Mary Ann Sheffield Dunn, whom it claims is the professor’s “6x great grandmother.”

“By claiming heritage as Mississippi Choctaw, she is implying that she is an enrolled member of the tribe,” states the site. “For enrollment [in Mississippi Choctaw], at least a ‘50% quantum degree of Choctaw blood is required,” the website notes, linking to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians homepage.

Stuart-Richard insisted that while FakeIndians has spread “false information,” she has not sued, according to an interview she gave to OU Daily. She clarified that she is not enrolled as a member of the Mississippi Choctaws, but claims that she is ancestrally connected to them and, hence, uses that identifier on her résumé.

Amanda Cobb-Greetham, chair of OU’s Native American Studies department, said that while the department does not believe the accusation made against the professor, it would be serious if found to be true.

“It would have quite an impact,” said Cobb-Greetham. “This is serious for all of us in Native American studies because, for many of us, it is very personal. Also, because it is a subject area within our field, honesty and ethics are critical.”

The department chair went on to state that people could identify as American Indian not just through race or ancestry but through culture and politics, for example, by enrollment in the tribe.

“Race is a fiction of our imagination, and I underscore pure because we are the composite of many different racial groups or peoples,” said George Henderson, director of human relations at OU, told OU Daily. “There are no pure races, but there are pure racists. People who believe in the fiction of race and believe that they are superior to others in that fictional belief.”

Rowdy Gilbert, OU’s senior vice president for public affairs, further explained:

Tribal affiliation is not and has never been a requirement for a faculty position in the Department of Native American Studies. Matters relating to tribal identity are particular to individual scholars and their relationships to the communities with whom they work. As an equal opportunity employer, the University of Oklahoma is prohibited from making inquiries regarding the race, ethnicity or national origin of any candidate for a faculty position.

Stuart-Richard received over $100,000 in scholarships, though it is unclear whether she identified as Choctaw when applying for the money.

TheDCNF reached out to the professor but received no comment in time for publication.

This report, by Rob Shimshock, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

LU Staff

LU Staff

Promoting and defending liberty, as defined by the nation’s founders, requires both facts and philosophical thought, transcending all elements of our culture, from partisan politics to social issues, the workings of government, and entertainment and off-duty interests. Liberty Unyielding is committed to bringing together voices that will fuel the flame of liberty, with a dialogue that is lively and informative.

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