Berkeley professor apologizes for lying about Native American ancestry.

Environmental Science Professor Apologizes for False Claims of Native American Heritage

Elizabeth Hoover, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has issued a public apology after being accused of falsely claiming to have Native American heritage.

In a lengthy letter on her personal website, Hoover expressed regret for the “hurt, harm, and broken trust” she caused by asserting that she has Mohawk and Mi’kmaq ancestry. She admitted that she had benefited from programs and funding opportunities which were “identity-related or geared towards under-represented people.”

Hoover had already released an apology in October rescinding her claims to Native American identity, but students at Berkeley drafted a collective statement one month later asking for her resignation, garnering more than 350 signatures from faculty members, organizations, and prior associates of Hoover.

In her latest apology, Hoover promised to make donations to Native American “farm, food sovereignty, and educational programs,” as well as put away her “dance regalia, ribbons skirts, moccasins, and Native jewelry.” She also vowed to direct future research toward “supporting people and communities with whom I have an authentic relationship and will accept spaces where communities ask me to step back” as part of her “restorative justice” efforts.

Hoover’s false claims of Native American heritage are not unique among white academics. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a former Harvard Law School professor, infamously said she was a Cherokee for nearly four decades but apologized to the nation in 2019 after a genetic test confirmed that she was as little as 0.1% Native American. Jessica Krug, a former history professor at George Washington University, resigned three years ago after she falsely claimed for years to be African American, and Kelly Sharp, a former professor at Furman University, resigned months later after she incorrectly claimed to be Chicana.

Adrienne Keene, an ethnic studies professor at Brown University and a member of the Cherokee nation who previously worked with Hoover, published a letter on Tuesday containing extensive research she had conducted into the Hoover family in an unsuccessful attempt to verify their Native American associations.

Hoover appeared on an “Alleged Pretendian List,” a spreadsheet created by an activist to expose white people who falsely claimed Native American ethnicity, more than two years ago. Keene had initially started the research in order to exonerate Hoover.