The Daily Mail, via Karen Townsend at Red State, brings us the Most 2022-2023 American Story. Stick it in a time capsule or shoot it into space, but save it for posterity. It’s got everything.
It’s the tale of a Wisconsin Native American gender non-binary artist named Nibiiwakamigkwe, who founded a “queer indigenous artists; collective.” In indigenous identity circles, gender weirdness is known as “two-spirit.”
Obviously, that kind of grievance group cred is lucrative: The Mail says she (or “they” – both pronouns appear in the article) “has earned several artists' stipends, a paid residency at the University of Wisconsin, a place on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force and many speaking gigs and art exhibitions.”
But here’s where it gets weird: It turns out her real name isn’t that word I refuse to type again. Her name is Kay LeClaire, and she’s as Injun as Elizabeth Warren’s cheekbones.
We know this because AdvancedSmite, a genealogist of actual indigenous heritage got curious and posted some research results on the New Age Fraud Forum. LeClaire is German, Swedish and French Canadian – not a smidge of the Ojibwe, Métis, Oneida, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Cuban and Jewish blood she’s claimed at various times.
The pasty-white LeClaire put out a statement of apology, claiming “A lot of information has come to my attention since late December.” Mm hmm.
“Moving forward, my efforts will be towards reducing harm by following the directions provided by Native community members and community-specified proxies.” And good for those identity scolds – they’re never happier than when they have remorseful lefties to push around.
I have a question and an observation.
Q: Why don’t LeClaire’s ridiculous gender claims come under the same scrutiny as her ancestry fibs? Whether she calls herself “two-spirit” or “gender queer,” everyone’s supposed accept it because she “identifies” that way? Why can’t she identify as American Indian?
O: As Townsend wrote: “Did Kay LeClaire learn nothing from Rachel Dolezal,” the local NAACP leader who was as white as an Osmond record. Did she not learn from Liz Warren’s silly Pow Wow Chow charade? What about Ward Churchill?
But the better question is why the rest of us haven’t learned? It would save heap-big trouble. The grievance identity industry is inherently immoral, taking agency from individuals in return for material and status spoils. Is it surprising it draws so many immoral people to the business?
