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THREAD - for the love of Inukness, indigeneity and documentary film:
A lot of very eloquent things have been said in response to the news about Michelle Latimer’s apparently insufficient claims to indigenous identity.
A lot of very eloquent things have been said in response to the news about Michelle Latimer’s apparently insufficient claims to indigenous identity.
After my private phone and email conversations with her over the past couple of months, as well as reading the information publicly available, I have decided that I no longer personally see her as indigenous.
I see a lot of indigenous folks also coming to this conclusion, but painstakingly crafting statements and social media posts in order to pay respect to the sovereignty of the nations she has claimed to be from. It is up to them and them alone if she’s from their nation.
However, if they don’t claim her (which they haven’t yet after months of research), it’s up to the rest of us to decide how we view her.
Many others are also being very gentle in their wording, so as not to further hurt legitimate indigenous people who have been painfully separated from their communities by colonization, and are currently struggling to reconnect with their communities.
This is as it should be, as no one from outside can tell those nations who their citizens are. And we must all show care for our relatives who are working hard to rebuild and strengthen their ties to community.
However, I also see many settlers witnessing this care and concern for sovereign indigenous nations and hurt native people, and mistaking that as support for Michelle's claims to indigeneity.
When I first heard about the questions back in late October, I tried so hard to give her the benefit of the doubt. I told her by phone and by email that I cannot validate her indigeneity, and that if it turns out she is not, I am ready to believe that she was honestly mistaken.
I also told her that even if it turned out she was not native at all, she could walk with dignity so long as she's ruthlessly honest with herself and everyone else about what she learns. Drop everything, do that work.
Since then, I grew increasingly frustrated with the lack of information and vague statements. Then I saw that she recently accepted the Doc Vanguard award. This really changed things for me.
My understanding is that Michelle still cannot be sure whether or not she is native.
I still think that admitting clearly that she doesn't know yet is the only honest thing she could have said (it would certainly have made me feel more generous toward her), but the fact that Michelle has instead been muddy made it harder to trust her.
I understand that finding one’s identity can be a journey, but if she wasn't there yet, she should have stopped using language that implies so confidently that she's native.
I’m upset that she accepted the Doc Vanguard award from the DOC Institute. Regardless if she turned out to be native or not (maybe she'll somehow find a new more recent relative), I think Michelle has acted unethically and I feel betrayed.
She gained access to my community, my voice and my film for her doc (Inconvenient Indian) based on the understanding that she was indigenous, when she knew there was a chance that she may not be. To me, that’s not ethical documentary filmmaking, and it should not be celebrated.
I know from when I got the very same award a few years ago that they reach out first - you know before it is announced. Which means she had the opportunity to do the right thing.
Michelle knew the article was coming imminently. She could have declined the award, but instead she chose to accept it and put the DOC Institute and our documentary filmmaking peers in the position of having to react to the news when it comes out.
Michelle has been too deeply involved in the indigenous film circuit to not know it’s insufficient to claim indigeneity based on family stories, or distant ancestors. She's heard the conversations, festivals panels, read the op-eds.
Even if she turned out to have some real, present-day connection somewhere, she made her claims before knowing what they are, which is unacceptable. Especially after Boyden (yes I'm going there).
After Boyden and the raging, nation-wide, painful, gut-wrenching, triggering debates about indigenous identity that followed... I find it impossible to believe that it didn’t occur to Michelle that she needed to confirm her family stories. Impossible.
But instead of doing that work, she forged ahead for years until just days ago. At *best* she had been burying her head in the sand, which is incredibly disrespectful and hurtful to all her partners, whether indigenous or settler allies.
I want her partners and colleagues to know that I do not blame them in any way - Michelle lied (by omission at the very least) to all of you.
@NORTHERNGRRL, even if your grandfather turns out to be 100% native and from Kitigan Zibi, I would still feel you’ve acted unethically to allow this situation to get this far.
You made a thousand decisions to get to this point, and many of them have occurred well after you knew that serious (and fair) questions were being raised. This shows a level of disregard that I have a hard time stomaching right now.
You have recently used vague phrases, like “my elders” (who’s elders? From where? Are they native? Are they from the community you’re claiming to be from? Do they claim you?) and “my truth” (instead of “the” truth).
Those phrases feel calculated, which add to the reasons why I was no longer able to continue giving you the benefit of the doubt, even before the news article came out with the facts and details you never managed to share with me, despite promising to keep me abreast.
While I still think the Inconvenient Indian is a beautiful film, I am heartbroken that it is tainted with the knowledge that the footage was acquired unethically. That said, I can now separate the content from the filmmaking process.
I am so honoured to be in the company of all the brilliant indigenous artists and intellectuals and change makers in the film, and their stories (and their life's work) are what make the film still beautiful and important.
Regarding the filmmaking process, I have made the request to the producers that the film is no longer submitted for awards or prestigious festivals.
I also requested that any awards received to date are returned, because all of the hard and excellent work contributed to it by so many has been undermined by your dishonesty.
As an Inuk I feel betrayed, like so many indigenous people across the continent. As an indigenous filmmaker I am dismayed at the space you have taken up that should have belonged to others.
But also specifically as a documentary filmmaker who believes in the principle of positioning ourselves honestly, and approaching our subjects with transparency, I am so very done with you.
Michelle, I call on your to return your Doc Vanguard Award. And if you don't do so willingly, I call on the DOC Institute to rescind it.
