New university report tackles Indigenous identity fraud

One year after Canada’s University of Saskatchewan found itself in the midst of a national scandal around the issue of Indigenous identity, it has released a detailed independent report it commissioned outlining the extent of the problem and how to fix it, writes Geoff Leo for CBC News.

Last October, CBC published a report raising doubts about University of Saskatchewan Professor Carrie Bourassa’s claims to Indigenous ancestry. She was suspended from her role at the university and resigned earlier this year. In the wake of that story, the university asked Jean Teillet, a high-profile Métis lawyer, to investigate.

Initially her work focused on Bourassa, but after Bourassa resigned, Teillet turned her attention to the broader problem. Teillet noted that across Canada, universities have focused on creating positions set aside for Indigenous people. She said the intention was good, but they naively relied on self-identification. “The academy seriously underestimated the fact that so many individuals would seek to exploit that ignorance for their personal gain,” wrote Teillet in her 84-page report. “As a consequence there were few checks and balances to detect or deter Indigenous identity fraud.”
Full report on the CBC News site