Recently, north of the Medicine Line, there has been an upsurge in the exposure of high-profile writers and scholars who have fraudulently claimed Indigenous identity. What's the harm in “playing Indian” (Deloria) for a night or a weekend, or drawing on Indigenous spirituality for personal growth? This talk examines the phenomena of non-Indigenous people taking on Indigenous identities to advance their own aims, from establishing settler national identity (Deloria) to consolidating cultural power (Huhndorf) to race shifting (Leroux) and to Pretendianism (Kolopenuk). The love and fascination for “all things indian,” or Indianthusiasm, (Lutz, Strelczyk, and Watchman) necessitates critical engagement with the historical, political, social, and cultural trajectory of Indigenous identity. Moreover, (how) can relations be restored? What responsibility do publishers, colleagues, allies, and communities who are impacted by the fraudsters have? While condemning the range of appropriative practices, our (Indigenous) families and polities insist on our own forms of belonging and cultural autonomy. 

Renae Watchman (Diné) is Bitter Water born for Towering House. She is Bird Clan (Cherokee) from her chei (maternal grandpa) and Red Running Through the Water from her nálí (paternal grandpa). She is a Diné (Navajo), whose family is originally from Shiprock, New Mexico. Watchman is an Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. Her teaching and research interests are in Indigenous literary and expressive arts, Diné analytics, and transnational collaborations. She is the author of Restoring Relations Through Stories: From Dinétah to Denendeh (2024) and co editor of Indianthusiasm: Indigenous Responses (2020). In spring 2026, Dr. Watchman is a Distinguished Mercator Professor at the University of Potsdam. 

This event is organised by the University of Bonn and the North American Studies Program and is a part of the "Current Issues in North American & Cultural Studies Lecture Series". 

This event is organized by the University of Bonn. If you have any questions or comments, please contact the organizer directly.