This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1437618
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1437618
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We should be truthful with each other.
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"…one of the hallmarks of [schizoaffective ] disorder is delusional thinking characterized by “false fixed beliefs despite evidence to the contrary.”
Describes the current GQP perfectly, and unlike Littlefeather, they are actively doing harm to the country.
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The biggest liar in all of human history has placed us in the Post Truth Era…an era the GOP is not only comfortable with, but one in which that is the main GOP weapon.
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I’m truthful to a fault.
OK, that’s a lie. 
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This kind of scholarship is important. Thanks to Dina Gilio Whitaker, THE CONVERSATION, and TPM for publishing it.
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There is a reason we recoil from a knowing liar like Ted Cruz (or just about any Republican leader these days).
The Littlefeather case is more complicated.
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” – Socrates
NB: Littlefeather’s psychological state aside, the question of tribal membership is less straightforward than a DNA test and, regardless, is not uniform across the 500-some odd tribes in the USA even if the rules for tribal enrollment presumably have tightened up in more recent decades; e.g.,
Expelled Tribe Members Say Feds Did Nothing to Protect Their Rights
Sixty-seven members of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe claimed in a federal complaint that the government officials tasked with protecting them have stood idly by after they were illegally expelled from the Michigan tribe.America's 2nd Largest Indian Tribe Expels Blacks
The Cherokee Nation recently stripped citizenship from a majority of African-Americans who descended from slaves of wealthy Cherokee Indians before the Civil War.
ETA: Littlefeather may not have been all she claimed but it will take further scholarship to adequately demonstrate she had no foundation for her belief.
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Wow. I had no idea. This was an interesting read.
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Won’t a DNA test settle it?
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Schizoaffective disorder is somewhat similar to Bipolar disorder, in that there are mostly swings between two states – schizophrenia/mania and major depression. In schizoaffective disorder, there are two types (bipolar or depressive type.) In the bipolar type, delusions and hallucinations are common. Schizoaffective disorder also features memory loss, sometimes severe, and researchers have found a pattern of brain activity disruptions in the dorsolateral prefontal cortex that may be the first sign of memory problems. It’s a pretty complex disorder, and thankfully, rare. Like Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia, and many other mental health conditions, it has a high rate of heritability. But there is evidence that early childhood trauma can be involved in the disorder as well.
We may never know how much of Ms. Littlefeather’s “personhood” was the result of a serious mental health delusional disorder, or a calculated, fictitious lie, or both.
There’s a Canadian documentary out about “Pretendianism” (I have not seen it yet):
There’s also a condition know as “Imposter Syndrome,” and I have heard the (derogatory IMO) term “Race Faker,” in academic settings.
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Won’t a DNA test settle it?
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I don’t know if there is a gene identifed for this disorder yet. Or, if you meant to prove or disprove First Nation/Native American/Indigenous – I am not sure DNA tests can prove this either, at least not to the extent that tribes would accept them.
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That is an excellent documentary. I follow the the creator and producer Drew Hayden Taylor on twitter and have read his books. The pretendian phenomena has been a hot topic here for a while. There are numerous politicians, academics and writers that have been under the microscope. Several careers have been ended.
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Ain’t that the truth.
The one that sticks with me is Liz Warren, and I don’t recall if there was any substance to her claim. I’ll admit, the way Trump went after her with such relish made me disinclined to find out what the truth is, if it’s even known. It just made me defensive. In the 70s, this type of appropriation was everywhere. Growing up, lots of people I knew made similar claims, but I didn’t know anyone who used it to help with college admission or expenses.
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An example of dealing with hard truths and acting accordingly.
And why, no matter what the Republicans do, eventually they will fail.
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Well, I always thought it was an acting gig in a room full of Hollywood actors. The costume gave it away.
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So long as there are benefits accruing to one group, ambitious people will claim to be part of that group. Twas thus under Jim Crow with people passing for white. We’re seeing the other side of the coin right now.
The solution is obvious: Stop essentializing identity. Treat each person as an individual, not a demographic avatar. Stop hiring on the basis of group identity and start hiring on the basis of individual merit.
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This one sticks for me too: I don’t think there was much substance to the claim beyond the stories repeated within her family as she was growing up; kind of accepted as a background ‘fact’ w/o any attempt at formal corroboration.
The same may have been true for Littlefeather, at least to some degree, as I recall reading an article (which unfortunately I can’t seem to track down right now) where her estranged sisters were quoted as saying their family had a similar tradition when they were growing up. No telling what they would say now that they have been informed there was no demonstrable basis for that tradition but it seems of a piece.
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That’s exactly the kind of story that many, many Americans told. It was an article of faith.
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May This Eventually Be So! 
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