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1- Hi everyone, I’m coming to you from Kjipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia), which is in Mi’kmaw territory about 700 kilometres (as the birds fly) up the Atlantic coast from Boston or 4,000 kilometres from Dublin. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay
2- For the past 5 years, I’ve been studying self-indigenization or #raceshifting movement in eastern Canada and parts of New England. This movement involves white settler peoples transforming themselves into “Indigenous” people. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay http://www.raceshifting.com
3- Since the early 2000s, dozens of organizations have emerged in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, falsely claiming to represent “Indigenous” peoples. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay http://unbgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/StoryMapBasic/index.html?appid=ec7e124499aa4410960f812cde84645a
4- Part of my work has been tracking role that DNA ancestry testing has played in this movement - How have molecular technologies been used to embolden white settlers' erasure of actual Indigenous peoples in Northeast of the continent. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay
5- I published this magazine article that outlines how 2 such orgs had origins in explicit anti-Indigenous social movements led by white men opposing Indigenous territorial claims. White supremacy morphs into claims to indigeneity. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay https://maisonneuve.org/article/2018/11/1/self-made-metis/
6- In 2018, I published an academic article in @Soc_Stud_Sci that outlined how one of these organizations (MNRS), with over 20,000 members now, teamed up with DNA testing company to legitimize their anti-Indigenous activism. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay https://www.academia.edu/35631423/Weve_been_here_for_2_000_years_White_settlers_Native_American_DNA_and_the_phenomenon_of_indigenization
7- The article examines the role a publicly-funded population health & genetic epidemiology project played in furthering the violence of settler colonialism by empowering white folks to claim an “Indigenous” identity based on 400-year-old ancestry. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay
8- I use @ruha9 concept of “genomic sovereignty” = “deliberate interpretation of genomic data to match the sociohistorical record and a re-imagining of historical and cultural narratives to make sense of genomic findings” (2009, p.342). #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay
9- In this sense, one must understand the specific national/settler colonial context in order to get a clear picture of how and why molecular technologies further racism/colonialism in the present. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020
10- This shorter version of article is available on @_transmissions_ blog and outlines main points, incl. that these DNA-based efforts to redefine indigeneity clearly go against Indigenous scholars’ definitions of identity and belonging.
https://sites.library.queensu.ca/transmissions/native-american-dna-and-the-self-indigenization-of-french-descendants/
https://sites.library.queensu.ca/transmissions/native-american-dna-and-the-self-indigenization-of-french-descendants/
11-“Scientific community has an opportunity to move beyond strictly biological register that continues to define Indigenous peoples in racial terms towards one that understands Indigenous nations as political entities with their own basis for recognizing kin and making citizens.”
12- Now, on to my recently published book, “Distorted Descent: White Claims to Indigenous Identity.” Last chapter is one of 2 that examine role of DNA ancestry testing in furthering colonialism. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020 https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/distorted-descent
13- Viaguard Accu-Metrics, a Toronto-based DNA testing company, offers popular “Native American DNA Testing Service” that tells “truth” about one’s “tribal origins.” Several orgs, representing 10,000s of white folks #raceshifting, have partnered with company. #DNADay2020
14-I ordered 2 separate tests with my DNA, one under colleague’s name & his home address. Results were significantly different! 1st results were 9% “Native American” (9% Mi’kmaq) & 2nd results were 5% “Native American” (2% Huron, 2% Neutral, 1% Ojibwe). #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020
15- I traced my entire ancestry back to late 1500s for my book (2,000+ ancestors back 12–15 generations) & I have 3 Algonquin woman ancestors (average for French-descendants) born before 1650, only about 0.5% of my ancestors born in this period. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020
16- An investigative report about Viaguard Accu-metrics "Native American DNA Testing Service" exposed product as a house of cards based on profit motives and disregard for Indigenous self-determination. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/dna-ancestry-test
17- News report explained that another org. teamed up with company to charge potential members $250 for a DNA ancestry test, splitting the bounty. 100% of tests came back “positive” for “Native American DNA” (see @KimTallBear). #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/native-american-dna
18- The “Indigenous” org. then charged individuals with “positive” test results a $80 fee to become members (renewable annually), and this for tens of thousands of members who had done a "Native American" DNA test. All of this reported by 2 whistle-blowers. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay
19- Long story, shortened, the DNA of 2 dogs (Snoopy, a chihuahua and Mollie, a French poodle) both tested at between 5% and 20% “Native American DNA” according to Accu-metrics "Native American" DNA testing service. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020
20- Plus, the broadcaster had 3 of their news team’s DNA tested by same company … 2 born in India and one in Russia. All 3 had 20% “Native American DNA”, broken down as 12% Abenaki & 8% Mohawk. How is that possible? #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay
21- The company provided false results for a price, ensuring that white people who sought to indigenize themselves could turn to molecular science as “proof” for their desire to transform their social identities. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020
22- As I point out in my book, Alondra Nelson’s work ( @sociallifeofdna) has been instrumental in helping me to understand how genetic genealogy is used by white French-descendants. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay
23-“Genetic genealogy testing provides a locus at which ‘race’ and ethnicity are constituted at nexus of genetic science, kinship aspirations, and strategic self-making” (p.763). As such, people turn to genetic genealogy, not for “truth”, but to confirm what they already believe.
24- Finally, I want to turn to 2nd example of genetic genealogy in my book. It involves case of Catherine Pillard, a French woman born in western France and brought to the Americas in 1665. I wrote about her case below. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020 https://theconversation.com/how-some-north-americans-claim-a-false-indigenous-identity-121599
25- In that example, a well-documented French woman was turned into an “Indigenous” woman by 3 genealogists who conducted mtDNA testing of some of her descendants in mid-2000s. That’s right, a woman born in France became “Algonquin-Siberian.” #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020
26- The genealogists are all involved in the #raceshifting movement, including the architect of the project who calls himself a “tribal judge” for one of the 4 fake “Abenaki tribes” that received state recognition in Vermont in 2011-2012. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay
27- Notably, Pillard has by-now been transformed by “tribes” in VT & NH into Catherine “Ouenta,” daughter of a Huron chief who lived in 1600s. She gets used as an "Indigenous” root ancestor to empower white New Englanders to claim an “Indigenous” identity today. #DecolonizeDNA
28- The genealogists’ molecular research has been refuted by a number of scientists and historians, but nonetheless, the #raceshifting movement thrives on changing the identities of women in the 1600s to fuel their movement. Again, I point this out in some detail in my book:
29- State of Vermont has been hoodwinked, as have countless institutions that continue to hire white people posing as “Indigenous” peoples in U.S. & Canada, against political positions offered by Indigenous organizations and scholars in these regions. #DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020
30- If you’re white, like me, ask yourself:
1- Why is it important to “discover” any mtDNA identified by genetic scientists as “Native American”?
2- How have you considered what Indigenous peoples are saying about use of 300-400+-years-old mtDNA?
#DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020
1- Why is it important to “discover” any mtDNA identified by genetic scientists as “Native American”?
2- How have you considered what Indigenous peoples are saying about use of 300-400+-years-old mtDNA?
#DecolonizeDNA #DNADay2020
