{"id":1059472,"date":"2021-11-27T11:29:19","date_gmt":"2021-11-27T16:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1059472"},"modified":"2021-11-27T11:29:24","modified_gmt":"2021-11-27T16:29:24","slug":"a-health-expert-claimed-to-be-indigenous-her-colleagues-say-she-has-no-evidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-health-expert-claimed-to-be-indigenous-her-colleagues-say-she-has-no-evidence\/","title":{"rendered":"A Health Expert Claimed To Be Indigenous. Her Colleagues Say She Has No Evidence."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-health-expert-claimed-to-be-indigenous-her-colleagues-say-she-has-no-evidence%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1059472&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>One of Canada\u2019s top experts on Indigenous health is under fire for allegedly lying about her ancestry after claiming to be of various Indigenous descent.<\/p>\n<p>Carrie Bourassa, scientific director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research\u2019s Institute of Indigenous People\u2019s Health, claimed during a TEDx Talk in September 2019 that she was of M\u00e9tis, Anishinaabe, and Tlingit descent, but her colleagues are now calling her claims into question, according to CBC News. As the outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/newsinteractives\/features\/carrie-bourassa-indigenous\">reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p><em>With a feather in her hand and a bright blue shawl and M\u00e9tis sash draped over her shoulders, Carrie Bourassa made her entrance to deliver a TEDx Talk at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon in September 2019, where she detailed her personal rags-to-riches story.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMy name is Morning Star Bear,\u201d she said, choking up. \u201cI\u2019m just going to say it \u2014 I\u2019m emotional.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The crowd applauded and cheered.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI\u2019m Bear Clan. I\u2019m Anishinaabe M\u00e9tis from Treaty Four Territory,\u201d Bourassa said, explaining that she grew up in Regina\u2019s inner city in a dysfunctional family surrounded by addiction, violence and racism.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>She claimed that her M\u00e9tis grandfather would sit her on his knee and tell her she would be \u201ca doctor or a lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe would make me repeat it over and over as there was chaos going on, usually violence,\u201d Bourassa claimed. \u201cAnd why would he make me say that? Because there was nobody in my family that had ever gone past Grade 8.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bourassa is now one of the most respected experts on Indigenous health in Canada and a professor at the University of Saskatchewan\u2019s department of community health and epidemiology. She also directs an Indigenous community-based health research lab known as the Morning Star Lodge, CBC reported.<\/p>\n<p>But, the outlet noted, some of Bourassa\u2019s colleagues are calling her ancestry claims into question:<\/p>\n<p><em>But some of her colleagues, like Winona Wheeler, an associate professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Saskatchewan, say Bourassa\u2019s story is built on a fundamental falsehood.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Wheeler, a member of Manitoba\u2019s Fisher River Cree Nation, says genealogical records show Bourassa is not Indigenous at all, but rather of entirely European descent.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWhen I saw that TEDx, to be quite honest, I was repulsed by how hard she was working to pass herself off as Indigenous,\u201d Wheeler told CBC. \u201cYou\u2019ve got no right to tell people that\u2019s who you are in order to gain legitimacy, to get positions and to get funding. That\u2019s abuse.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Another colleague, Janet Smylie, described by the CBC as \u201ca M\u00e9tis family medicine professor from the University of Toronto,\u201d wrote a chapter in a 2017 book about Indigenous parenting that was edited by Bourassa. Smylie says she discovered Bourassa wasn\u2019t honest about her identity after her own research.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes you feel a bit sick,\u201d Smylie told CBC. \u201cTo have an impostor who is speaking on behalf of M\u00e9tis and Indigenous people to the country about literally what it means to be M\u00e9tis \u2026 that\u2019s very disturbing and upsetting and harmful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The CBC traced Bourassa\u2019s ancestry lines to Europe and said it was \u201cunable to locate any Indigenous ancestor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Guardian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2021\/nov\/02\/canadian-academic-on-leave-amid-row-over-indigenous-ancestry-claims\">reported<\/a> in early November, just days after the CBC published its article, that Bourassa was \u201cplaced on administrative leave from her university after an investigation challenged her claims of Indigenous ancestry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of Canada\u2019s top experts on Indigenous health is under fire for allegedly lying about her ancestry after claiming to be of various Indigenous descent.Carrie Bourassa, scientific director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research\u2019s Institute of Indigenous People\u2019s Health, claimed during a TEDx Talk in September 2019 that she was of M\u00e9tis, Anishinaabe, and Tlingit descent, but her colleagues are now calling her claims into question, according to CBC News. As the outlet reported:With a feather in her hand and a bright blue shawl and M\u00e9tis sash draped over her shoulders, Carrie Bourassa made her entrance to deliver a TEDx Talk at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon in September 2019, where she detailed her personal rags-to-riches story.\u201cMy name is Morning Star Bear,\u201d she said, choking up. \u201cI\u2019m just going to say it \u2014 I\u2019m emotional.\u201dThe crowd applauded and cheered.\u201cI\u2019m Bear Clan. I\u2019m Anishinaabe M\u00e9tis from Treaty Four Territory,\u201d Bourassa said, explaining that she grew up in Regina\u2019s inner city in a dysfunctional family surrounded by addiction, violence and racism.She claimed that her M\u00e9tis grandfather would sit her on his knee and tell her she would be \u201ca doctor or a lawyer.\u201d\u201cHe would make me repeat it over and over as there was chaos going on, usually violence,\u201d Bourassa claimed. \u201cAnd why would he make me say that? Because there was nobody in my family that had ever gone past Grade 8.\u201dBourassa is now one of the most respected experts on Indigenous health in Canada and a professor at the University of Saskatchewan\u2019s department of community health and epidemiology. She also directs an Indigenous community-based health research lab known as the Morning Star Lodge, CBC reported.But, the outlet noted, some of Bourassa\u2019s colleagues are calling her ancestry claims into question:But some of her colleagues, like Winona Wheeler, an associate professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Saskatchewan, say Bourassa\u2019s story is built on a fundamental falsehood.Wheeler, a member of Manitoba\u2019s Fisher River Cree Nation, says genealogical records show Bourassa is not Indigenous at all, but rather of entirely European descent.\u201cWhen I saw that TEDx, to be quite honest, I was repulsed by how hard she was working to pass herself off as Indigenous,\u201d Wheeler told CBC. \u201cYou\u2019ve got no right to tell people that\u2019s who you are in order to gain legitimacy, to get positions and to get funding. That\u2019s abuse.\u201dAnother colleague, Janet Smylie, described by the CBC as \u201ca M\u00e9tis family medicine professor from the University of Toronto,\u201d wrote a chapter in a 2017 book about Indigenous parenting that was edited by Bourassa. Smylie says she discovered Bourassa wasn\u2019t honest about her identity after her own research.\u201cIt makes you feel a bit sick,\u201d Smylie told CBC. \u201cTo have an impostor who is speaking on behalf of M\u00e9tis and Indigenous people to the country about literally what it means to be M\u00e9tis \u2026 that\u2019s very disturbing and upsetting and harmful.\u201dThe CBC traced Bourassa\u2019s ancestry lines to Europe and said it was \u201cunable to locate any Indigenous ancestor.\u201dThe Guardian reported in early November, just days after the CBC published its article, that Bourassa was \u201cplaced on administrative leave from her university after an investigation challenged her claims of Indigenous ancestry.\u201dThe Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0member.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1059472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1059472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1059472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1059472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1059472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}