Exposing jaw-dropping stories of Indigenous identity fraud

What do some of the most prominent and successful Indigenous artists, leaders, and thinkers have in common? They aren’t Indigenous.

There are dozens of cases of Indigenous identity fraud that we know about, and likely thousands that we do not. So why do these so-called “Pretendians” do it? How do they pull it off? And what happens when they are exposed?

In each episode of this riveting new podcast series from Canadaland, co-hosts Robert Jago (Kwantlen First Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe) and Angel Ellis (Muscogee (Creek) Nation) reveal unbelievable stories of audacious fraudsters and investigate the complex phenomenon of Indigenous identity fraud. Pretendians will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about identity politics.

Listen to the first episode of Canadaland’s Pretendians, launched this May, followed by a conversation, questions and answers with the podcast co-hosts and Canadaland's Executive Producer, Jesse Brown.

Robert Jago is a freelance writer, entrepreneur, and Indigenous rights activist from Richmond, British Columbia. Robert’s written for The Guardian, The Nation, the CBC, The Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, and many others. Robert is a citizen of both the Kwantlen First Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe.

Angel Ellis (Muscogee Creek) is the director of Mvskoke Media and a free-press activist. She is the real-life protagonist of the Sundance award-winning film Bad Press, a documentary thriller which documents the struggle for an independent press within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Jesse Brown is the Executive Producer, podcast host and the publisher of Canadaland, an independent podcast network fueled by over 10,000 monthly supporters. He is the producer and co-writer of the podcasts Thunder Bay and Cool Mules. Jesse has won the National Magazine Award for Humour and the Hillman Prize for Investigative Reporting. He's also a co-founder of Bitstrips, makers of Bitmoji.

Saturday, May 25 • 10:00 am to 11:00 am.

Innix College Town Hall

2 Sussex Ave,

University of Toronto

For more information on the podcast, visit: https://link.chtbl.com/Coming_Soon_Pretendians