Sixties Scoop advocate joined panel at MacEwan event
Sixties Scoop advocate calls for government action against ‘pretendians’ during a panel discussion at MacEwan University.
Indigenous clothing displayed at kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre on October 14, 2025 Photo credit: Nora Mohamad Photo credit: Nora Mohamad
Sixties Scoop survivor and Indigenous rights advocate Colleen Hele-Cardinal called for government action against ‘pretendians’ during a panel discussion at MacEwan University on Sept. 25, warning that false claims of Indigenous identity threaten truth, culture, and community.
The event, Truth First: Pretendians and Effects on Community, brought together four panelists at The Lookout to share their lived experiences.
Terri Cardinal, MacEwan’s associate vice-president of Indigenous Initiatives and Engagement, said the discussion built on last year’s Truth First conversations and explained that pretendians are non-Indigenous people who assume Indigenous identity for personal or financial gain.
Hele-Cardinal said her perspective is by her own history as a Sixties Scoop survivor.
During the Sixties Scoop, which occurred between the 60s and the 80s, Hele-Cardinal said she and many other young children were taken from their homes and adopted by non-Indigenous families. “My adoptive parents took me to Ontario,” Hele-Cardinal said, “I grew up without knowing I was Indigenous.”
Hele-Cardinal explained that she became curious about her cultural identity when she started going to college. She said she grew up in Western culture, but she felt she needed to know her “true identity” so she talked to her adoptive mother. “I asked her about it and she looked at me, then said, “Well, you’re Indigenous.””
As Hele-Cardinal learned more about her culture, she said she became more aware of the increasing number of pretendians. She said that she has not seen these numbers decreasing.
Elaine Kicknosway is from Swampy Cree and, like Hele-Cardinal, is a Sixties Scoop survivor and advocate. Together, Hele-Cardinal and Kicknosway explained they founded the Sixties Scoop Network to help Indigenous people feel culturally safe. Kicknosway is grateful that Indigenous people can have their voices heard.
Katrina Koe is a Cree mother of two. She said, “it isn’t just about money, pretendians take opportunities from our people.” Koe called on the government to set legislation so “our people can have the opportunities that belong to them.”
Meanwhile, Tom Snow, an Elder and the Knowledge Keeper at kihêw waciston, said that some people become pretendians unknowingly. “There is a process for someone to become Indigenous and it requires permission from two Indigenous leaders,” said Snow.
He was asked for permission by “a woman who wanted to gain Indigenous identity to match her Indigenous partner’s identity,” however, “you don’t just ask that from someone.” Snow said, “We need the government to create laws to fix the wrongdoings of pretendians. They need to be stopped.”
