Photographs obtained by DailyMail.com present simply how Kay LeClaire was capable of remodel herself over the course of simply two years from a white faculty scholar to an Indigenous two-spirit — fooling even some within the Native American neighborhood itself.
LeClaire recognized themselves on Fb as a ‘white girl’ in July 2017 as they spoke of they nuptials with Adam Pagenkopf the next summer time.
However by 2019, they publicly recognized as a Native American ‘two-spirit,’ which is a time period many Indigenous individuals use to explain a non-binary gender id.
LeClaire even went on to co-found a queer Indigenous artists’ collective in Wisconsin, and began shopping for Native American artwork from Etsy which they might passing off as their very own and promote to unsuspecting consumers.
Some within the Native neighborhood have now stated that they had their suspicions about LeClaire, who went from a light-haired brunette to a tan girl with darkish hair over the course of just some years.
LeClaire was in the end pressured to step down from their neighborhood positions final month after it got here to gentle that they had been really a ‘pretendian’ — a time period Natives use for individuals who fake to have Indigenous lineage.
It’s unclear whether or not they’ll face fees for his or her false claims, as profiting off a false Native American id is a federal crime.
Kay LeClaire, who additionally glided by the identify Nibiiwakamigkwe, and has claimed to be Native American is being {accused} of being a white girl by hobbyist genealogist AdvancedSmite. They’re pictured of their highschool commencement image in 2012
By 2019, they publicly recognized as ‘two-spirit,’ which is a time period many Indigenous individuals use to explain a non-binary gender id
AdvancedSmite, a hobbyist genealogist, has laid out how LeClaire has claimed to have Métis, Oneida, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Cuban and Jewish heritage.
However utilizing on-line data and sources, AdvancedSmite found LeClaire’s true lineage is German, Swedish and French Canadian.
The nameless genealogist informed Madison365 that they first grew to become conscious of LeClaire by means of a Fb advert for an upcoming discuss on Indigenous feminism.
It recognized LeClaire beneath her ‘Native identify’ Nibiiwakamigkwe, which AdvancedSmite stated they discovered uncommon as a result of the given Ojibwe identify is ‘usually one thing that may simply be utilized in ceremony or with different people who find themselves Ojibwe or part of your neighborhood,’ they stated.
AdvancedSmite, who can be of Indigenous then carried out some analysis and located that whereas LeClaire is ‘a standard Native American final identify,’ there have been social media posts by which they recognized as Anishinaabe.
The genealologist additionally found that LeClaire had beforehand claimed to be Cuban in bios, interviews and elsewhere by means of August 31, 2020.
AdvancedSmite then reportedly used on-line data and sources to seek out LeClaire’s true lineage – German, Swedish and French Canadian, Madison365 reported, and reported their findings on the New Age Fraud Discussion board.
It was additionally claimed on the discussion board that LeClaire graduated from Hamilton Excessive Faculty in Sussex, Wisconsin, the place they had been generally known as Katie Le Claire, in 2012.
They apparently attended the College of Wisconsin and in the summertime of 2018 married fellow Hamilton alum Adam Pagenkopf, a analysis specialist at UW, it was reported.
LeClaire graduated from Hamilton Excessive Faculty in Sussex, Wisconsin, the place they had been generally known as Katie Le Claire, in 2012. At the highschool, they met Adam Pagenkopf
LeClaire is pictured at her marriage ceremony to Pagenkopf in 2018. She is now {accused} of being a ‘pretendian’ — a time period Natives use for individuals who fake to have Indigenous lineage
LeClaire is pictured within the again proper with members of her husband’s household in a latest photograph
In a 2017 Fb submit, LeClaire publicly recognized themselves as a white girl
AdvancedSmite claimed on the discussion board that LeClaire labored their means into many establishments and exhibitions and made cash by claiming Indigenous heritage.
LeClaire earned a number of artists’ stipends, a paid residency on the College of Wisconsin, a spot on the Lacking and Murdered Indigenous Ladies Activity Drive and lots of talking gigs and artwork exhibitions, it was reported.
It was additionally revealed that they purchased Native American art work on-line, which they might then pawn off to unsuspecting consumers.
As Laura Le Fay posted on Fb on December 30: ‘I purchased a coyote bag that KLC claimed they spent 4 hours creating in January of 2021.
‘I now know, and have confirmed with the precise artisan, this bag was purchased from an Etsy store and resold.’
And in 2019, LeClaire based the Giige Collective, a bunch of nonbinary Native artisans in Teejop who would offer clients with conventional Native tattoos.
A poster she made beneath her faux Native American identify was even chosen to look on the Madison Metro Transit.
LeClaire co-founded the Griige Collective, , a bunch of nonbinary Native artisans in Teejop who would offer clients with conventional Native tattoos, in 2019
A poster she made beneath her faux Native American identify was even chosen to look on the Madison Metro Transit
A number of individuals within the Native American neighborhood have since expressed their shock that LeClaire lied about her heritage.
Kanyʌhtakelu Becky Webster, an assistant professor on the College of Minnesota, for instance, posted on Fb on Saturday: ‘I’ve sat with this Kay LeClaire state of affairs a bit, going by means of all of the feelings, harm, anger, disbelief.
‘I welcomed them into my dwelling, introduced them to ceremonies and bartered my art work for his or her fakes,’ she wrote, revealing: ‘Others warned me, however I used to be hesitant to imagine somebody may weave such an elaborate internet of lies.
‘They had been so form and keen to assist and share. They had been a ray of sunshine,’ Webster stated of LeClaire. ‘They embodied all the pieces you’ll need in a buddy.’
LeClaire had beforehand disparaged Elizabeth Hoover, who got here beneath hearth for falsely claiming Native American ancestry
She continued: ‘Kay stayed with us proper after Liz Hoover launched her assertion admitting she had no verifiable Indigenous ancestors.
‘Kay and I had deep discussions about it. We lamented how a lot we had been harm by Liz’s actions and her inactions for therefore lengthy. We had been astonished anybody would base a whole id round unfounded household lore.
‘I believed Kay and I had been on the identical web page with our stance on pretendians and the way harmful they’re to our communities. I believed Kay was my buddy.’
Chatting with DailyMail.com, Webster stated she met LeClaire by means of the Indigenous meals sovereignty motion and ‘we grew to become mates.’
She stated LeClaire recognized herself as New York Oneida and Ojibwe.
When requested whether or not she ever doubted these claims, Webster stated: ‘There have been indicators, however I ignored them.
‘Then a pair mutual mates reached out and shared their doubts. Throughout my final go to with Kay, we talked extensively concerning the Liz Hoover incident (one other pretendian).
‘Kay doubled down and spoke about how horrible Liz’s actions had been. It wasn’t till the family tree report was launched earlier than I totally accepted Kay’s lies.’
‘I went by means of all of the feelings, denial at first (I even reached out to Kay with the allegations), then shocked that our doubts had been proper, unhappy, offended, betrayed, confused [and] harm,’ she stated.
‘Most of all, I’m mourning an individual I believed was my buddy, an individual that by no means actually existed.’
Webster added that she now hopes LeClaire ‘will get the assistance she wants’ and ‘apologizes for the harm she induced and admits to what she has executed.
‘She has already began giving again to the individuals they got here from,’ Webster stated.
Kanyʌhtakelu Becky Webster posted on Fb Saturday how she was in disbelief when she noticed the information about LeClaire
Namāēwkūkiw Rachel Fernandez additionally commented on Webster’s submit: ‘You are not alone. I really feel this too.’
She stated she had related with LeClaire on the Lacking and Murdered Indigenous Committee.
However others had their doubts, as Webster talked about, together with Vanessa Besha Casillas who posted on December 28: ‘I’ll admit I used to be a bit sus … principally due to the faux wanting mocs and the dyed hair paired with the tanning sales space lookin’ complexion.’
A Twitter person additionally posted: ‘Oh my god, Kay LeClaire being a fraud pretending to be native (however they’re white) has gotten out and I am shaking with adrenaline as a result of I used to be ready for this to unfold.’
Namāēwkūkiw Rachel Fernandez additionally commented on Webster’s submit: ‘You are not alone. I really feel this too’
Others, although, posted on-line that that they had their suspicions of LeClaire’s claims
LeClaire later apologized in a press release to Madison365.
‘I’m sorry,’ they wrote. ‘A number of data has come to my consideration since late December. I’m nonetheless processing all of it and don’t but know easy methods to reply adequately. What I can do now could be supply change.
‘Shifting ahead, my efforts might be in the direction of lowering hurt by following the instructions offered by Native neighborhood members and community-specified proxies.’
The assertion went on: ‘Presently, which means I’m not utilizing the Ojibwe identify given to me and am eradicating myself from all neighborhood areas, positions, initiatives, and grants and won’t search new ones.
‘Any culturally associated objects I maintain are being redistributed again in neighborhood, both to the unique makers and gift-givers when attainable or elsewhere as decided by neighborhood members. Thanks.’
DailyMail.com has additionally reached out to LeClaire for remark.
LeClaire, pictured in 2020, has stated they’ve began to offer again the entire objects they stole to the Native American neighborhood
However in a press release posted to Instagram, the opposite executives on the Giige Collective that they had been already working to take away LeClaire as an proprietor of the corporate.
In a prolonged assertion, they stated: ‘The collective at Giige want to lengthen our gratitude to the Indigenous neighborhood inside and surrounding Teejop within the wake of the latest revelation of the numerous harms dedicated by former cofounder Kay LeClaire.
‘Proof has come to gentle indicating that Kay LeClaire has made false claims relating to their heritage, their artwork and their place locally,’ they continued.
‘It’s with nice reduction and a authorized feat behind the scenes that the crew at Giige announce our separation from co-founder Kay LeClaire, efficient 12/31/2022.
‘The inspiration of our collective encompasses gender and trauma-informed care inside an Indigenous tattooing house, bringing therapeutic by means of ink again to Indigenous and queer our bodies.
‘This particular person has gone in opposition to our inherent values and perpetuated hurt inside the Teejop neighborhood and past.
‘With out our information and consent, Kay LeClaire used our place as an Indigenous-led enterprise to inflate their platform and develop their entry to an already susceptible neighborhood.’
They continued to elucidate: ‘Our collaboration with Kay LeClaire got here from the ethics that kind the inspiration our enterprise in addition to a spot of belief.
‘Communities are constructed on belief and whereas Kay LeClaire violated that belief, we is not going to let thier actions shake our beliefs, restrict the belief we give our neighborhood or compromise our ethics because of their dangerous habits,
‘We need to acknowledge how our platform and neighborhood standing allowed Kay LeClaire to extend the quantity of hurt they had been capable of do.
‘We specific immense gratitude to people who introduced this difficulty to our consideration, and sincerely thank everybody who has knowledgeable us of the continued hurt occurring exterior of and thru Giige.’
The corporate additionally sought to make clear what function LeClaire performed, writing: ‘Kay LeClaire was our administrative affiliate and our occasion planner in addition to a member of our artist collective.
‘Kay LeClaire was NEVER a tattoo artist at Giige and any tattoos they declare to have created didn’t happen on the premises.’
The opposite Giige executives have known as on LeClaire, pictured with their husband, to ‘supply a proper apology for any fraud, lies and theft of tradition, artwork and alternatives’
The executives then went on to say they first met LeClaire in late 2019, at which level ‘they had been already claiming to be Indigenous… and had been vouched for by different trusted neighborhood members.
‘Now we have additionally been harm by Kay LeClaire on private, cultural and monetary ranges and, unrelated to the allegations made within the NAFPS thread, had been within the means of eradicating them from possession of Giige since October 2022.
‘We had been nonetheless unaware of the extent of their habits, so we started a means of resolving our inside conflicts by means of mediation in November 2022. We had been met with resistance and obstruction at each step of the way in which.
‘We didn’t turn into conscious of the total extent of their lies till 12/23/2022, at which level we took their elimination from possession of Griige to our lawyer for instant motion as an alternative of continuous dialogue with them.’
Griige is now calling on the ‘non-Indigenous companies which have platformed Kay LeClaire and their work to supply a proper assertion on their work with this particular person and decide to paying reparations to the Tribes.
‘We name on you to match the amount of cash you paid Kay LeClaire for his or her false information and misrepresentation of our individuals in a donation to an Indigenous group harmed by Kay LeClaire,’ the corporate stated.
‘Our collective is dedicated to a means of rematriation and redistributing the artwork and c7ultural objects that Kay LeClaire is in possession of, ought to they do the precise factor and relinquish them. We’re working with the Indigenous neighborhood in Teejop to perform this course of and respect your endurance.
‘We’re additionally dedicated to sustaining our store as an Indigenous and queer house for the neighborhood in and round Teejop,’ it continued. ‘Our hearts, house and sources are open to you.’
He and Jerry Chris Van Dyke, 67, bought totems just like the one pictured right here, claiming to be Native American artists
On the identical time, Griige known as on LeClaie to ‘supply a proper apology for any fraud, lies and theft of tradition, artwork and alternatives.
‘We name on them to acknowledge the hurt they’ve dedicated, gracefully settle for the results and sincerely apologize to these they’ve harmed, together with the Tribes they claimed, the communities and organizations they labored with and anybody who known as them a buddy.’
‘It’s unlucky, disturbing an da clear symptom of ongoing colonialism that Indigenous individuals regularly should face the results for trusting somebody who’s pretending to be our kin.
‘What has been unveiled over the previous few months has taken an enormous emotional toll of all of us and we ask in your endurance as we take the time to heal ourselves.
‘Please don’t ask us for permission relating to actions to be taken within the wake of this tragedy,’ the corporate continued. ‘This requires quite a lot of labor on the a part of individuals already harmed by Kay LeClaire and places us ready the place we’re then in control of the fallout for his or her actions.
‘Observe your finest judgment when deciding how to reply to this an dhow to personally make issues proper.’
Griige concluded: ‘We deeply respect the neighborhood assist we’ve got thus far obtained and ask that you just proceed to assist us as we reorganize and heal.
‘Kay LeClaire continues to be part of the broader Madison neighborhood and is a human being deserving of care, regardless of their egregious actions.
‘Whereas this can be a name to motion and a spotlight, we don’t condone harassment or violence of any form directed in the direction of Kay LeClaire.
‘We is not going to tolerate dialogue of Indigenous id points by non Indigenous communities on our web page, nor will we tolerate hypothesis or diagnoses of Kay LeClaire’s psychological or bodily well being standing,’ the executives stated.
‘We ask you to encourage them to hunt assist and take accountability for his or her actions.’
Stealing Native American art work and passing it off as your personal is a violation of the federal 1990 Indian Arts and Crafts Act.
In 2021, Lewis Anthony Rath, 52, and Jerry Chris Van Dyke, also referred to as Jerry Witter of Seattle, 67, had been charged with violating the act after they bought masks, totems and pendants claiming to be Native Individuals.
Rath was charged with 4 counts of misrepresentation of Indian produced items, which is punishable by 5 years in jail, whereas Van Dyke faces two counts.
In a press release on the time, Edward Grace, the assistant director of US Fish and Wildlife Service Workplace of Legislation Enforcement stated: ‘By flooding the market with counterfeit Native American artwork and craftwork, these crimes cheat the patron, undermine the financial livelihood of Native American artists and impair Indian tradition.’
