By Dave Baxter Local Journalism Initiative 15/05/2024 After decades of hiding their identities, Indigenous leaders say communities are now experiencing a “new identity crisis” as more and more Canadians falsely and fraudulently claim Indigenous ancestry for personal gain. “Today it’s a different crisis. We are struggling with people who are trying to be us,” Scott McLeod, the Chief of the Ontario-based Nipissing First Nation said this week while speaking at the two-day Indigenous Identify Fraud Summit in Winnipeg. McLeod says when growing up on his reserve, he saw countless examples of community members and Elders hiding their heritage out of fear of what could happen to them if they publicly shared their culture, language or ceremonies. “Back in the ’60s and ’70s we had identity issues because we were trying…
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