A question of identity
The Comanche Nation informed KU that a professor who claims he's Comanche is not an enrolled member of the tribe.
By Darla Slipke (Contact)
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
The Comanche Nation has disputed the claims of a KU professor that he is a Comanche Indian, and accused him of benefiting professionally and financially from his unconfirmed ethnicity.
Ray Pierotti, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who also teaches in the indigenous nations studies program, told The University Daily Kansan in an e-mail that he has never identified himself as an officially enrolled member of the tribe. However, he has claimed to be Comanche in numerous public forums and in a federal discrimination lawsuit he and his wife, Cynthia Annett, filed against the University of Kansas.
While Ray Pierotti acknowledges he is not an enrolled Comanche, he claims Comanche ethnicity, which has a role in University hiring and personnel matters. Although at one time being an ethnic minority could result in discrimination, today it can be an attractive asset to job applicants as universities seek to increase diversity among faculty and staff. The University keeps track of the ethnic makeup of faculty, but equal-opportunity officers said faculty and applicants identified their own ethnicity and the University, unlike tribal authorities, did not require them to provide evidence. Racial and ethnic identity have long been contentious issues. The issue has become more prevalent since equal opportunity laws have passed and Americans have been asked to identify their racial and ethnic backgrounds more frequently.
Pierotti, who said in an e-mail that he was not teaching this semester because he was on “bereavement-related Family Medical Leave,” declined repeated requests by The Kansan to discuss his ethnicity or the allegations that have been raised against him. One of his brothers, David Pierotti, said in a telephone interview from his home in California that their mother told him that her mother was a Comanche from Oklahoma. However, another brother, Nick Pierotti, and an uncle and cousin said that Pierotti’s great-grandparents on their mother’s side were Polish and immigrated to the United States from Europe.
Comanche Nation officials have sent two letters to KU administrators, the latest to the Chancellor’s Office in January, informing the University that Pierotti was not an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation. In the January letter, they asked the University to post disclaimers on publications or Web sites that identify Pierotti as Comanche. Chancellor Robert Hemenway and Provost Richard Lariviere declined requests for interviews to discuss Pierotti’s claims or the Comanche Nation letters.
Students of Pierotti’s said that he had been a great mentor who had gone out of his way to help them and had brought an Indigenous perspective to the science curriculum. Clouding the debate are claims by David and Ray Pierotti that a family dispute over the care of their late father, who died in October, motivated their brother Nick to send an e-mail alleging that Ray Pierotti is not ethnic Comanche as he claims to be. The e-mail was sent in late October to people in several departments at KU including The Kansan and to offices of several other Native American Studies departments and tribal organizations across the United States.
Official enrollment in a tribe is controlled by tribal governments, who see it as their sovereign right to determine their own members. Enrollment typically requires proof of a percentage of Native blood and can carry with it tribal voting rights, access to benefits and a share of financial rewards in tribal businesses and land.
Comanche claims:
Pierotti has been at the University since 1992. In that time, he has mentored Native students and was named Tribal College/University Mentor of the Year in 1998 by the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. He is identified as “a member of the Comanche Nation” in his biography for that award.
Pierotti is also identified as a Comanche in the 2004 annual report for the National Science Foundation; a 1997 article in Earth Science magazine; a KU news release about the 2005 Big 12 Native American Student Leadership Conference at KU; in BioHawk, a privately funded annual newsletter produced by the Division of Biological Sciences of KU; and in an article published in the Journal of American Indian Education.
A Web site soliciting nearly $400,000 in funds for a documentary that Pierotti was involved with, “Powwow for the Planet,” described him as “a Penateka Band Comanche and one of a very few tenured Native American scientists in U.S. universities.” The Web site was taken down after the allegations were raised last semester. It is back up now, but there is no longer any mention of Pierotti’s Comanche heritage.
In 1998, Pierotti and his wife, Cynthia Annett, filed a lawsuit against the University claiming that he faced racial discrimination because of his Native ethnicity and that she had been a victim of gender discrimination. The acts of discrimination that he cited included: removing laboratory space from him, revoking his position as chairman of the department of Sytematics and Ecology’s Minority Affairs Committee and “denigrating” his award for mentoring minority students.
Attempts to reach Pierotti by telephone were unsuccessful. His wife said in an e-mail to The Kansan that after consulting his doctors, her husband would not consent to an interview for this story.
Ray Pierotti said in an e-mail that allegations by his brother Nicholas were the result of “an ugly family tragedy.” David Pierotti echoed that statement. However, complaints that Ray falsely claimed to be Comanche arose long before his brother’s e-mail.
Heidi Mehl, a third-year graduate student who has worked with Pierotti, said she didn’t believe the allegations when she heard about them.
“I’ve never had any reason to question it,” Mehl said of Periotti’s ethnicity. “Anyone who knows him knows the claims don’t hold any water. It’s really easy to make those claims when you have other motives. That’s an easy subject to attack. Identity is a really thorny issue to get into.”
What Comanches say:
The Comanche Nation first complained about Pierotti’s claims when Monnarhae Henry, the tribe’s enrollment director at the time, sent a letter to the interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2006 saying that Ray Pierotti was not an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation. Copies of the letter were sent to Michael Yellow Bird, who was the director of Indigenous Nations Studies at the time, and the Office of the Provost. The University said it did not become aware of allegations against Ray Pierotti until Fall of 2007, nearly a year after the letter was sent, but Yellow Bird said he received the letter.
Wallace Coffey, chairman for the Comanche Nation, said they were first alerted about Ray Pierotti about five years ago by Comanche students from KU and Haskell.
“They are not the type of individuals who would judge or make any assumptions,” Coffey said. He said the students started asking basic kinship questions about Pierotti’s family.
“He just couldn’t respond,” Coffey said. “Our people would say it’s just another white man professing to be Native and using what little knowledge he has to try to take advantage of us.”
On Jan. 4, 2008, the Comanche Nation Business Committee, made up of elected leaders of the tribe, sent a second letter to the Office of the Provost. The letter, signed by eight tribal leaders, said Ray Pierotti still was not an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation.
The letter stated in part:
“The Comanche Nation is the only entity that can determine Comanche Nation citizenship. Pierotti’s self-identification as Comanche and the University of Kansas’ lack of effort to substantiate his claims shows disrespect to our tribal sovereignty and is an affront to the legitimate Comanche people. In essence, he is benefiting professionally and financially from unsubstantiated claims of Comanche identity for which the exclusive criterion is tribal enrollment.”
The tribal leaders asked the University to apologize for failing to acknowledge the first letter and to include a disclaimer that said “Raymond Pierotti is not an enrolled member or citizen of the Comanche Nation” on all University Web sites that identified Pierotti as a Comanche.
Coffey said he had not received any response from the University.
Lynn Bretz, director of University Communications, said that the KU administration could not discuss matters relating to personnel because of the individual’s right to privacy.
Bretz said when the University was first made aware of allegations against Ray Pierotti last fall, the University reviewed them and discussed them with Pierotti. Bretz said the University took matters of academic integrity and scholarly misconduct seriously. She said the University had a serious review process that included listening to complaints and gathering evidence.
According to University Senate Rules and Regulations, academic misconduct for an instructor includes: “grading student work by criteria other than academic performance, willful neglect in the discharge of teaching duties, falsification of research results, plagiarizing of another’s work, violation of regulations or ethical codes for the treatment of human and animal subjects, or otherwise acting dishonestly in research.”
The Comanche Nation, a federally recognized tribe, requires that those who enroll for membership must be able to trace their lineage back to the 1887 Dawes Act and must be at least one-eighth Comanche as determined by blood quantum, which is the calculation of an individual’s Indian blood.
To enroll, an ancestor with Comanche heritage must first be enrolled. Pierotti’s parents are both deceased and people cannot be enrolled posthumously.
Ray Pierotti said in an e-mail that he wrote to the Comanche Nation and told them that he had never identified himself as an enrolled member of the tribe. However, he declined to discuss the specifics of his Comanche ethnicity.
Others have also expressed concerns about Pierotti’s claimed heritage. After Nick Pierotti sent the e-mail with the allegations about his brother Ray, Devon Mihesuah, professor of indigenous nations studies, sent him a reply thanking him. Her e-mail reply was intended only for Nicholas Pierotti, but he posted it online on discussion boards without Mihesuah’s consent.
In her response, Mihesuah said that she had questioned Pierotti’s Comanche identity and challenged his ability to teach in the indigenous nations studies department. She said she complained “endlessly” to KU administrators and even asked to be removed from the department. Her husband, Joshua Mihesuah, is an enrolled member of the Comanche tribe. In the message, she said that they had “been aware” of Pierotti’s claims for almost 10 years, and that she was “frustrated that KU chose to look the other way.”
Devon and Joshua Mihesuah both declined to comment for this story.
Tribes determine:
Angelique EagleWoman, visiting assistant professor of law, said that tribal nations are sovereign and thus determine their own members. She said institutions like the University should contact the tribe before they identify faculty or students as American Indian.
The National Native American Bar Association created guidelines about tribal identity for public institutions in 2007. They encourage institutions of higher education to require individuals who identify as Native American to provide information that will support their claim to ethnicity.
EagleWoman said people who are descendants of a tribe but are not eligible for enrollment should identify themselves as descendants. She said if institutions honored tribal sovereignty, ethnic fraud would not be a problem.
Linda Sue Warner, the president of Haskell Indian Nations University and an enrolled Comanche, said it was important that tribes determined who to include as members.
“Tribes get to say,” Warner said. “It’s really not a genetic issue; it’s a tribal sovereignty issue.”
When Warner became president of Haskell, the Comanche Nation had a celebration in Lawrence to honor her achievements. Coffey said that he did not see Pierotti during the celebration.
The other side of the debate:
Others say that tribal enrollment is an oppressive construction that alienates some Natives.
“I think it’s whitewash,” said Michael Yellow Bird, associate professor of indigenous nations studies. “It’s a colonial invention of the U.S. government. I don’t believe in it.”
Yellow Bird is Sahnish and Hidatsa. His official blood quantum level is 28/32, while several of his brothers and sisters have a perfect blood quantum level of 4/4, even though they have the same parents.
“A lot of people don’t regard tribal enrollment systems with a lot of respect and credibility,” he said.
A copy of the letter from the Comanche Nation’s enrollment office was sent to Yellow Bird in 2006 when he was director of the indigenous nations studies department. Yellow Bird said he wasn’t concerned because many people who are Native are not enrolled members of a tribe and because some people who are enrolled members aren’t really Native.
“I asked him and he said he was,” Yellow Bird said of Pierotti. “That was good enough for me.”
Yellow Bird said what mattered was the performance of a person. He said Pierotti had guided a lot of students through KU and Haskell, many of whom have become successful scientists. Yellow Bird said students gravitated toward Pierotti.
“He was a good mentor,” Yellow Bird said. “He showed up to meetings (of the First Nations Student Association) when no other faculty did.”
Dustina Abrahamson, a second-year graduate student and one of Ray Pierotti’s students, said Native governments were the only ones that required a pedigree for citizenship.
She said that was problematic because many Natives don’t have a high enough blood quantum for any one tribe to enroll. Even some full-blooded Indians cannot register with certain tribes because their blood quantum is so diverse among different tribes, she said.
Abrahamson has worked under Ray Pierotti and taken several of his classes. He is her adviser in the Indigenous Nations Studies department at KU. She said Pierotti inspired her to come to KU for graduate school.
“In my perspective and my view, Dr. Pierotti is as much Native as I am,” she said. “His spirit, his heart is truly indigenous.”
Abrahamson is a full-blooded Shoshone Indian. Shoshones and Comanches are considered cousins.
Abrahamson said a lot of people look at how others look on the outside rather than who they are on the inside.
“He doesn’t fit the mold in a stereotypical view of what Native instructors are supposed to be,” Abrahamson said.
She said what matters is being proud of your heritage and who you are, and Ray Pierotti is.
Abrahamson said she and other students had been made aware of the allegations by an e-mail that was sent out to a select group of students and faculty members in the indigenous nations studies department last semester. She said the e-mail was “mean and hurtful and ugly.”
What the family says:
Nick Pierotti said in a phone interview that his brother decided to create a false Comanche identity many years ago in order to take advantage of affirmative action when he was struggling to get a job. He said Ray chose Comanche because the Comanche Nation didn’t keep good records of family history.
David Pierotti, Ray’s other brother, said their grandmother on their mother’s side was Comanche. He said Nick made up the allegations as an act of retaliation.
David Pierotti said the brothers were not immersed in their Comanche heritage growing up in a middle-class suburban neighborhood, but that he remembered stories his grandmother would tell about animals and growing up in the West.
As an adolescent, David Pierotti said his heroes included Crazy Horse and Tecumseh. He said his family was not interested in gaining tribal membership, which he said was for people who were trying to receive tribal benefits. He said his mother tried to find out more information about their Native ancestry but was unable to.
David Pierotti said he and Ray both worked with Native groups and that they had never sought or received any gain from it. He said he thought it had actually hurt his brother’s career, but that Ray got a lot of gratification from helping Native students.
“He and I have both done this kind of thing because we felt a sort of obligation to help,” David Pierroti said.
David’s wife, Josephine, said she recalls his mother telling stories about her background — both Polish and Comanche — on “many, many occasions.”
Nick said that their mother was aware that Ray identified himself as Comanche and that she thought it was wrong.
“There were never any stories told around the kitchen table that we were Native American,” Nick said.
Their grandmother died before Nick was born, when David was just four years old and Ray was eight-years-old. Her son Joe Orie — uncle to the Pierotti brothers and brother of their mother — said in a phone interview with The Kansan that his mother was not Comanche. He said she was born in Natrona Heights, Penn., and lived her entire life in that area. He said his mother’s parents were of Polish descent and came to the United States from Europe.
Jack Orie — cousin of Ray, Nick and David — corroborated that statement. He said he and his family were “shocked” when they heard about the claims of Comanche heritage. Orie’s father, John, could not be reached for comment.
Joe Orie said that he had not seen his nephews, the Pierotti brothers, for many years but that he talked to their mother (his sister) on the phone every few months until her death in 2003.
The identity issue:
Linda Fund, assistant director of the KU Office of Human Resources and Equal Opportunity, said that for University purposes, it was up to each individual to identify his or her ethnicity and the University did not require faculty to provide evidence.
According to the most recent survey of faculty done in Fall 2007, 11 faculty members, including three associate professors, identify as American Indian. American Indians had the smallest representation of any ethnicity out of 1,534 total faculty. The University declined to say whether Pierotti was one of the 11.
Fund said that the University did not give special consideration to applicants of a minority ethnic group, but that the University did strive to ensure that the KU campus was reflective of the population’s diversity and demographic make-up.
In his statement about diversity, Provost Lariviere has stated: “The community of KU reveres individual worth and dignity and believes that advocacy for diversity and inclusion is a major responsibility entrusted to all campus community members.”
Marilyn Harp, executive director of Kansas Legal Services, said there was no law that made it illegal to falsely identify oneself as being of a certain ethnicity but that people had been terminated from jobs for breaching the trust of their employers.
“Because race isn’t supposed to be a factor, to say that has something to do with his hiring and success suggests that the laws aren’t working well,” Harp said. “Except people are paying attention to race, which isn’t supposed to be a factor.”
The Comanche Nation expressed concern to the University that Pierotti was using his claims of Comanche heritage to acquire employment-related benefits, to enhance his credibility in the classroom and on grant applications and to gain support and academic acceptance for his scholarship.
In his article, “The Morale of Faculty, Students, and Staff under a Corporate Model: The Case of the University of Kansas,” Pierotti wrote that he was only “the second Native American tenure-track faculty member at KU.”
He is also identified as Comanche on an annual report for a research program he led, Recruiting Native American Students into Environmental Sciences, for which he and others received more than $400,000 in grant money from the National Science Foundation. The report states: “Being of a Native American (Comanche) heritage and familiar with many of the problems faced by Native students planning careers in environmentally oriented research, Dr. Pierotti acts as a mentor …” As of 2002, the reports for that program stated that it had helped more than 25 Native students to graduate with science degrees from the University, some of whom went on to attend graduate school.
Mehl said she had benefited from Pierotti’s grants as one of his students.
“Any claim that he would be getting rich off of some claim to Native American identity is ludicrous. I’ve never met two people who are more honest or more transparent,” Mehl said of Pierotti and his wife, Annett. “They go out of their way to provide opportunities to students through those grants.”
Mehl said Pierotti should be commended for his actions.
Abrahamson said Pierotti brought an indigenous perspective to science. Instead of looking at land as something to exploit as many do, Abrahamson said Pierotti taught his students that they were equal with nature.
Mehl said she appreciates Ray Pierotti’s indigenous world view and holistic approach to sciences. Mehl said Pierotti teaches that everything is connected.
Mehl said people who are trying to reconnect with their heritage should be embraced.
But if Pierotti is not Native, he is teaching under false pretenses and could be denying a job to someone who is a Native.
“They’re being taught Native values by someone who isn’t,” Nick Pierotti said. “There are plenty of Natives that could be holding the position that my brother is in.”
The question that has been raised by Nick Pierotti and others is not whether Ray Pierotti is an enrolled member of the Comanche Nation, which he is not, but rather whether he is Comanche at all.
Cornel Pewewardy, who is a member of the Comanche Nation and taught at the University from 1996 to 2005, said that falsification of tribal identity was like identity theft.
Pewewardy said that he didn’t know Ray Pierotti well but that he saw him at pow-wows for the First Nations Students Association and that they were on a committee together.
“There was all kinds of conversation,” Pewewardy said about Pierotti’s claims about his ethnicity. “I’m pretty sure he’s not. He contends that he is.”
Pewewardy said a basic element of identity is knowing who you’re related to. “If nobody knows you from back home and they’ve never heard of you, it becomes suspect,” Pewewardy said.
— Edited by Jared Duncan
Discussion
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Thank you for this well researched article! Outstanding, I can't wait for him to lose tenure!
It sounds like a nasty family issue turned even worse. Shame on his brother - how could you do that to family? Those are very serious allegations!
There are so many people who enroll in a tribe who weren't raised Native, just to get some government benefits or casino revenues, and don't ever even try to learn about the culture. Dr. Pierotti didn't try to extort any money out of the tribe, and he knows about his tribe and their traditions, AND he helps students. I don't see why he should be called into question when there are so many people with more devious intentions.
I am told that Indian People will disappear within two generations if they continue with the blood quantum stuff. Before the Dawes Act, I was Indian now I am not. And that statement in the article saying that it isn't about genetics but tribal sovereignty. Well if the genes ain't there then what is? It is difficult for me to accept that Indian people are still allowing themselves to be defined by a nation that has tried for centuries to wipe them out. Before the Dawes Act you did not have to prove your "Indianness" but with the Dawes Act came land allotment - ah...greed. The government decided under Mr. Dawes suggestion to "allot" land to Indians that basically already owned it. As a result Indian people lost about 90 million acres of land. As for me, I am Indian. YOU whoever you are cannot change that whether you are Indian or white. I don't care if I am not on a roll somewhere. CDIBs and BIA cards...that is the governement's most lethal weapon in destroying the Indian People. They knew that when they ratified the Dawes Act. They just have to be patient a little while longer.
jory - sorry to inform you, but you can't lose tenure after you get it unless you like rape and kill someone.
Very well written article. Good job.
This was a great article! Very detailed and inclusive of both sides of the story.
I am a Comanche tribal member and I have been familiar with what is going on for awhile. I have issues with the whole blood-quantum thing myself but one of my main issues with this situation is the question of honesty and integrity. This is something our nation struggles with over and over in leadership roles. It appears with the way he has changed things conistently that it is obvious that there is "shiftiness" going on.
Most Native people [of course not all] are not the type of people that are not inclusive and welcoming to someone that wants to know more or be included. There are many non-Native people that are "adopted" into tribes. So one of the biggest red flags that stand out about this situation is that Pierotti doesn't seem interested at all in being connected to the Comanche community and if he truly had that heritage it seems that it would be important.
Just to point out to Tellem there was more than just the brother that said there was no Comanche heritage, his uncle (the brother of his mother) also said there was not.
One last point. I have heard...although I don't know if it is true personally....that Pierotti is very easy on students [possibly to win favors with them and be accepted]. IF this is true then that is another huge concern for me. He is really doing a disservice to not only the students but to the communities which they will represent.
Just sort of teasing here, I have no desire to be malicious to anyone.....I have heard him speak in several community events and he seems to have a lot of information but he uses opportunities to speak to just talk about everything and nothing. So if he is going to "pick" a tribe to belong to I wish he would leave us Comanches alone, mosey along somewhere else and chose another tribe...there are 563 other recognized, he has lots of options :-).
Again....THANKS for putting together a great article that shows ALL sides of the story.
Native wolf and Native Sis - I really enjoyed your comments :-)
You know, it really doesn't say that he has no interest in being connected to the Comanche community, it just says that he's not an enrolled tribal member. I have a lot of friends who aren't enrolled tribal members, but are still involved with their tribe. Does the board of elders know everyone in the tribe? I doubt it, there are what, 20,000 members of the Comanche tribe? He could be well-known in some circles, but you would have to find those people to interview. I've taken some classes with Dr. Pierotti, and I see him at pow-wows all the time. He is an avid supporter of Native student activities on campus. I don't think he lacks a desire to be part of the Comanche or the larger Native community.
Good point that his uncle sided with Nick, but in bad family situations people will choose sides. They say this was the result of "an ugly family tragedy." I don't know the details, but if it's ugly enough for your own brother to be making claims against you that could result in your credibility being completely destroyed, then I would imagine it's ugly enough to cause rifts all the way up the family tree.
His other brother corroborated his claims. I read the original email that Nicholas sent out (it's posted on a message board), and it's very mean and spiteful. He gives names and numbers of relatives to call, but I'm sure he only gave the names and numbers of relatives who would corroborate his story. He didn't give his brother David's number. I'm sure he wouldn't post phone numbers of relatives online unless he had spoken with them ahead of time, since they're likely to be flooded with calls.
I don't know about him being easy on students - he didn't seem easier than other professors to me. He's very intelligent, and can wax poetic on any number of topics. His tests were essay-format, and the questions required a good amount of thought and research. I don't think anyone felt like the class was easy - there was a great deal of moaning on finals week when we had to write two essays plus turn in a longer term paper! I think if you show up and do the work (like in any class), you can get a good grade.
Ok, just thought I'd add all that, since I've taken his classes :-)
Good article, Darla.
There sure are a lot more of us Indians when it’s application time!
I know this person, He's made me feel uncomfortable in conversations before with other native people. However, the greater population has to realize that they forced this blood quantum issue on us as a way of genocide by paper. I'm 1/16 Choctaw. Not Miss Choctaw, not Okla Choctaw, maybe Alabama Choctaw. My ancestors were in Mississippi before any rez existed. In fact, the Miss Choctaws didn't have a rez until 1945. My ancestor's family has three names that are on the Dawes Rolls, yet have Miss Choctaw Rejected by them. They weren't full-bloods, and they had no article 14 papers awarding them lands after the Choctaw Dancing Rabbit Creek Treaty of 1830. By my estimate, there are at least 15,000 Choctaw descendants in Ala, LA, Miss, and Texas, who are biologically Choctaw, yet not federally enrolled anywhere. In the day, Comanches, like other tribes, had members who originated as captives in raids or warfare with the Spanish or other indigenous peoples. This isn't an explanation for the person in question, but this subject isn't that clear. There is a lot of grey area to be dealt with.
How many more "wannabes" are out there? It never ceases to amaze me how being Indian "could be a good thing" for some when the struggles and resistance for sovereign freedom is not real for the real Native American! There are many tribally enrolled members that have not an ounce of Indian blood in them but are fully accepted as tribal members and there are full blooded Indians that are refused enrollment for political and discriminatory practices by tribal enrollment offices across the country. I have seen firsthand in one particular Oklahoma tribe where African and Mexican Americans were granted full membership because of who their family was and full blooded members denied membership because of who their families were as well! Tribal enrollment cannot be taken seriously with all the Indian blood adopted out, relocated, displaced, orphaned out of boarding schools and simply removed from the tribe. Tribes do adopt non-Indians all the time. I'm waiting to see which tribe will adopt George Bush Jr. since most natives are hardcore Republicans anyway and vote conservative, even if conservatives are what keep natives down. I say let the man be and begin stringent research on those claiming native heritage. Who would've thought being native was a good thing in America?
Okay. So I have read alot of opinions and now I have something to say myself. I come from an extremely diverse background, and am mostly of European ancestry. I have Native American genes from three sides, and I do consider myself to be just as Native American as I am white. You see being Native American is not always by blood, and what it means to be a Native American can be perceived in different ways, depending upon who you ask, and the way that you see it yourself. I am Lakota, Cherokee, Choctaw, and Assiniboine Native. While the majority of my Native blood came from my mother's family, my paternal grandmother who was less by blood, was more Native American by spirit. She was raised to be proud of who she was, even in the worst times of discrimination. She handed down the customs, the stories, and enough of the culture for me to understand, and practice them myself. My grandmother's family were called a bunch of "half breeds," were kicked out of bars, gas stations, and all sorts of places, but that never changed her pride, or her beliefs. I think there is an extremely common misconception that if you arent reservation bred or raised, you are not a real Native American. Truthfully, half of the people that I know that live on the reservations could care less about being Native American, and take no pride in their beautiful culture and history. I mean no disrespect to anyone, and I am not excusing any kind of gainful fraud, but until everyone knows the facts they shouldnt judge someone that way. Being enrolled in a federal tribal register doesnt mean a thing if you are not practicing your beliefs. The Dawes rolls WAS created by the government to restrict Native Americans. My family claimed less blood quantum to take the restrictions from their lands. What it said on some government document meant nothing to them. The blood quantum was a government created plot to destroy the Native American cultures, and turn them against eachother. It was created with the intentions of eventual elimination of US funded benefits. I try to stay out of the politics of it, just because it is against what my grandmother taught me, but I cant help but wonder why people cant just let things be the way that they are. Does a piece of paper really make you what you are?
continued If this teacher is lying about his blood to gain something from it then I understand people being mad. At this point, it seems to me that he has invested alot of his time in the Native community, and for that you have to give him some kind of credit. One last thing, you cant always believe what other people say. Try to find a piece of paper proving my Lakota ancestry exists. You wont find it, due to the fact that they never registered themselves. My Choctaw blood is the same, along with my Assiniboine blood. Just because I dont have a piece of paper saying I am enrolled in these tribes, doesnt mean that I am not of their blood. Do I need a piece of paper to prove that I am white, too? My Peace and blessings to everyone! Wakan Takan kici un
In response to a previous post: Your views of conservatives are actually entirely unfounded. Liberals have been just as much responsible for oppression of different cultures if not more. Are you forgetting that it was the Democratic party that wanted slavery, and that helped to divide the union during the mid 1800's? No offense, but you are also forgetting that the liberal organization of planned parenthood was founded to eliminate minorities from the ghettos. The process is called eugenics. You should look it up sometime.
I just wanted to respond to a couple of points made in previous posts. First, I thank Tellem for responding as a student to clarify. It's good to know that because it is important for ALL students to be challenged to rise to a level that will help them be competitive when out in the professional world.
Second, on the point about possibly being connected to some group of Comanche somewhere. I understand that all tribes are different but we only have one tribal headquarters and so those in different regions all tend to connect to that area [we have 14,100+ members] and I'm sure many more that are not on the rolls. I know there could be exceptions but I'm merely pointing out the fact that to me someone in his position and desire to be involved in and with the Native community it seems he would also find it important to have or desire to develop relationships with SOMEONE that is connected to our tribal nation. I just think it's odd...that's all I'm saying.
Anyone that knows much about how Native communities work know that when you are in the public profile it is important to have some type of connection to the people you come from...or at least that is what I have witnessed and heard. There may be some "stand alone, don't need anyone or any connection to my people" individuals but that tends to be more the dominant European personality vs. traditional Native culture.
Again, I think the blood-quantum issue is a mess and really damages the future of Native people. The main issue I have of this whole thing is IF he is being dishonest...on purpose....about even having the heritage. By the way, the many family members listed were judges, attorneys and high profile positions. I believe they were contacted to verify the brothers allegations. It's hard to believe those people in those positions would all lie for the one brother but I guess when it comes to family disagreements it could be possible. Nothing among humans surprises me anymore...lol.
Anyone can be supportive of Native people, our culture or our futures without claiming to be one. When they cross that line then it seems to be they are using it for some type of benefit or else why would they do it [even if it is just to authenticate themselves]. When financial gain comes into the picture then that becomes more serious.
In closing I wanted to mention that Chairman Coffey of the Comanche Nation welcomed Pierotti to apply to the tribe and they would research it or any other efforts he wished to make to talk with them. No one is trying to ostracize him....just trying to clarify what is the case at this point and that is the fact he is not a registered tribal member which was stated at various times as the article mentions.
Thank you all for you good comments. I have a few more things to add. It is really sad and disheartening that the INS program has to be placed in such a negative light. The program is struggling as it is because of all the faculty disputes and the push for DECOLONIZATION AND INDIGENIZING THE ACADEMY Theme! Additionally, it is more daunting that INS's own professor was the one who placed this whole issue in the spot light. What is this professors ultimate motive behind doing this(to gain notoriety within the Native professor circle? Indian Country circle? To justify her writings by taking down her own peer(s)? Protection of tribal sovereignty? Or was it out vindictiveness? Ok, the tables have now turned! Lets take a look at her up and close. Where was she raised? What is her connection with her own people (not her husbands people)? How involved is she with helping out her own people (is speaking your tribal language good enough? But what good is a language when you don't involve yourself or your offsprings in that community?) Does that make one less Indigenous than someone who was raised in that community, but is not a speaker of that language? Is having a BIA/CIB card a true sign of Indigenous (or is this a pedigree issue)? Lastly, those who live in glass houses should not throw stones! Especially if their track record is anything but perfect! Only the creator knows the answers to these issues! As for Professor Ray, he knows the truth or lie! He is going to have to live with that truth or lie for rest of his life (hopefully he wont let his lie(s) become his truths). Lastly, he does not have all his Indigenous students best interest! He has tried to trash a few students within the INS program (I guess what comes around, goes around!). But on the upside, he and his wife Cynthia (who is a phenomenal women) has helped many (I guess selectiveness is vital to his stability)? you be the judge! To all the INS students and faculty who have been placed in the midst of this stupid madness! KEEP ON KEEPING ON! This program is vital to Indigenous peoples and their communities worldwide! sometimes rock bottom is the only way to achieve greatness!
This is a difficult subject.
Here at the University of Illinois we have wonderful non-Native allies whose positive efforts, good will, hard work and support laid the ground-work for any progress we have made. They have made it a safer and supportive place for Native students, and all students. And me.
Our enrolled Native faculty seem to share the same positive atributes and have done the same. It is the way of things when I was young. Having an encouraging and accepting mother and relatives is what I have known. Is it the "Indian" Muscogee (Creek) way? They are (were) and I try to be. But so is my dear non-Native wife, and even more so, she who is the mother of Native children.
We are who we are whether we are, or could be, tribally enrolled or not. We should not have to wear masks. Adding such untruths only diminishes, especially when revealed.
We are here to help each other and especially our youth. Our students. We do them a disservice if we say or lead them to believe we are something we are not. Even when we are doing good things. We need to be good examples of how to be.
DM (Enrolled member of the Musgocee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma
Thank you DM....beautifully and eloquently said and also brings the discussion back to the main point of the whole issue...."We do them a disservice if we say or lead them to believe we are SOMETHING WE ARE NOT." I think I could even be forgiving and accepting if someone was to 'fess up' and admit they were wrong as long as they made actions to correct their errors or misleading.
However, this issue seems to get "uglier". People resort to tearing down and attempting to discredit others instead of trying to clear up the issue at hand. Unfortunately, that seems to be easier for many to do instead of attempting to build bridges of understanding and compassion toward each other.
There is still hope though. I refuse to give up that hope that someday we will realize that together we are much more powerful.
One time, I saw Mr. Pierotti at a lecture and on the bio in the program, it said that he was "Penetaka Band of Comanche".(buh) At first I was pleased to see another Comanche in an academic setting. Being Comanche and having never met him, I walked up to him after his talk and said, "Haa, Maruwe". He turned and walked away so quickly I thought maybe I had bad breath or something. I mean, he literally ran away from me. hmmm. So, I've never had him as an instructor but just heard that one lecture.
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