Carlton Shield Chief Gover

Statement on Fraudulent Heritage Claims

Nawa tirastapiwâhat,

[Hello to everyone who is presumably sitting]

Like many of you, I have read the recently published report by the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF) and Jacqueline Keeler's Substack series about Theodore and Emily Van Alst. In light of this investigative reporting, I unequivocally state that my professional or personal connections with individuals who are not citizens of United States Federally Recognized Tribal Nations, Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiian, or First Nations, Métis, and Inuit in Canada, are under no circumstances to be understood as a public or private validation of their unsubstantiated heritage claims. Likewise, my past scholarship with false heritage claimant scholars should not be taken as an endorsement of their fraudulent claims.

Regarding my professional relationship with Emily Van Alst, I first began to distance myself when I became concerned about their shift in identity from Sihasapa Lakota to “Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, Inc.” during the final editing stages of our co-edited volume. I did not know about the family’s claims of “Eastern Cherokee” heritage until after the book's publication. Later, I learned that several colleagues were initially hesitant to share their concerns about Emily with me because of our close professional collaboration. I am profoundly sorry that I could not see the warning signs earlier. As a result of my increasing questions about how she represented herself in both personal and professional capacities, when she and her co-editor asked me to participate in 2025 on their review board to review and comment on proposals for their forthcoming series “Indigenous Archaeology Methods and Practice in the Americas (University of New Mexico Press), I immediately declined and shared my growing concerns with trusted colleagues.

Early in my career, I wanted to be open and inclusive of heritage claimants so as not to dismiss anyone’s story, especially given my experience as a Pawnee Nation Citizen who has lived my entire life outside the reservation boundary in Oklahoma. Generosity is a deep Pâri (Pawnee) value, and I continued to extend grace despite my own questions about Emily’s professed heritage claims. I now understand with profound clarity that generosity must be grounded in truth, and I better understand what sovereignty means and the authority Tribal Nations have to determine citizenship and belonging within their own contexts and histories.

Aspects of this professional nightmare also inspired the recent Indigenous SAA (Society for American Archaeology) Registration Waiver Program eligibility criteria developed by the Committee on Native American Relations (CNAR), of which I am a member. Developed over a decade and spearheaded by numerous Indigenous people, this initiative provides complimentary annual meeting registration for eligible Indigenous SAA members and is designed to reduce barriers to participation and support Indigenous engagement within the archaeological community. To prevent false heritage claimants from accessing this resource, we require participants to submit valid identification as enrolled citizens of a U.S. Federally Recognized American Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, registered with the Hawaiian Registry Program, or a Status Indian Registered with a Canadian First Nation or Métis or Inuit community. I believe there is still work to be done within the SAA regarding the eligibility criteria for the Native American undergraduate and graduate scholarships, which were established to help increase the number of American Indian and Native Hawaiian students attaining advanced degrees in the field. I welcome conversation with colleagues about moving towards a similar qualification process.

I sincerely apologize for any harm I have caused colleagues and students, past and present, by not paying closer attention to this issue sooner. I am committed to ensuring my future collaborations are with scholars who represent their work and relationships to Tribal Nations clearly and honestly. It is unfortunate that it took me years to realize the harms of false heritage claimants, but as both a citizen of my own Tribal Nation and as an archaeologist, it is my professional obligation to hold myself and others accountable to our Nations and Ancestors. I dedicate myself to that work of repair going forward.

Kustuči’îrit

[Until next time]