I've seen a lot of debate about how Krug is different or not different than people pretending to be Native. For one thing, I want to say that a very particular culture has emerged around gatekeeping Native identity in recent yrs, that goes far beyond concern about validity.

There is a lot of anti-Blackness to contend with in Native discussions of who is Native and who is not, so if we are going to do a compare/contrast of folks feigning these identities, we can't skip over that aspect of things.

Some Native people who are self appointed gatekeepers of Native identity have brought anti-Blackness into those dialogues in a big way. We have also seen the obsessive targeting of a Black Native author in recent yrs. I think it's important to name these differing dynamics.

The highly toxic behavior Krug inflicted upon Black people, of stirring conflict, chipping away at the perceived authenticity of others for purposes of self elevation, can be seen in some elite Natives, whose identities are not in question, but who who are anti-Black & harmful af

Those people, who have fostered anti-Blackness in dialogues about Native identity and sprinkled toxicity over every convo they could, want to twist Krug's story into something that legitimizes their previous actions. That's not a thing.

I used to be friendly with one of those people. I didn't understand who she was. Then, one day, she threatened to drag my workplace if I didn't get them to change an author's bio to reflect her opinion of the person's tribal status -- on her word alone. That gave me some clarity.

This was the day after the person making the demand got dragged on here for more than 12 hours bc they would not stop defending a false allegation of pretendianism they made against an account on here. So the demand was obviously about reasserting power, authority and legitimacy.

So when people compare Krug to folks feigning Nativeness, I just want to urge caution, not bc convos about Native identity shouldn't occur, but bc some of the Native folks trying to control those convos have turned these discussions of identity into something else.