Vampyre Nation Gets Indian History and Law All Wrong … Unsurprisingly

Here’s a very silly complaint (via ATL and Trent) filed by the Vampyre Nation, something I suspect would be subject to a Rule 11 sanction. Of note, on the last paragraph of page 5, the “Nation” asserts as “precedence” for their claim to sovereignty federal Indian law:
The American Indians have their own Reservations and land [...]

Fake Indian Tribe Wins Court Case in Minnesota

The Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed a trial court judgment excising financing statements filed in Minnesota by a fake Indian tribe — Pembina Nation Little Shell Band (not to be confused with the real Little Shell Band). Here is the unpublished opinion, which does not opine on the merits of the filings. But keep in [...]

Stevens v. McClellan — Fake Indian Tribes Again

Yet another claim brought by Dale Stevens and the fake Indian tribe Wampanoag Nation, Tribe of Grayhead, Wolf Band, properly dismissed by the federal district court. Below is the magistrate judge’s report and recommentation, adopted by the district court on Nov. 20.
stevens-v-mcclellan

Indian Fraud Violates RICO

From Indianz:
Three men who created a fake tribe at an Arby’s restaurant are guilty of violating federal racketeering laws, a judge ruled last week.
The “Wampanoag Nation, Tribe of Grayhead, Wolf Band” and its founders filed numerous legal claims against officials in Utah. The targets responded with a countersuit under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations [...]

Indian Frauds: Alternet on “Love and Consequences”

From Alternet:
Last month, it was revealed that the New York Times and Manhattan publishing world were deceived by Love and Consequences, a faked memoir by a white girl who claimed to live the life you only hear about in Dr. Dre songs. The damage control was so good, the book never saw daylight, and we [...]

Indian Frauds: US v Refert — Impersonating an Indian

Here are the materials in US v. Refert, an Eighth Circuit case affirming the conviction of a woman convicted of impersonating an Indian for purposes of receiving health care.
CA8 Opinion
Appellant Brief
Appellee Brief

Indian Literary Frauds: David Treuer on “Going Native”

From Slate:
In 1930, shortly after the studio release of his movie The Silent Enemy, Buffalo Child Long Lance’s Indian identity began to crumble. He was a celebrity by that time, having boxed Dempsey and dated movie stars, but he was not, it turned out, a full-blooded Blackfeet Indian who had been [...]

Literary Fraud: “Love and Consequences”

From the NYTs:
In “Love and Consequences,” a critically acclaimed memoir published last week, Margaret B. Jones wrote about her life as a half-white, half-Native American girl growing up in South-Central Los Angeles as a foster child among gang-bangers, running drugs for the Bloods.
The problem is that none of it is true.

Indian Frauds: “Wampanoa[g] Nation, Tribe of Grayhead, Wolf Band”

The District of Utah has a few of these cases involving people claiming to be members of the “Wampanoag Nation, Tribe of Grayhead, Wolf Band,” trying to hide behind federal Indian law in order to avoid federal and state regulation. This one is called Burbank v. United States District Court of Utah. It involves a [...]

Article on Academic Frauds

Ethnic Fraud?
Tribal scholars say some faculty are falsely claiming American Indian heritage to boost their job prospects.
By Mary Annette Pember
From Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
For American Indian scholars, securing a job in higher education can sometimes be as simple as checking a box. Most of the country’s colleges and universities [...]