Ex-judge leaves UBC after indigenous ancestry claims challenged

Former provincial judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond has left her faculty position at 바카라사이트 University of British Columbia, after several months of escalating controversy over 바카라사이트 law professor¡¯s right to claim indigenous ancestry.

The university gave no reason for Professor Turpel-Lafond¡¯s departure, although it has acknowledged community concern about 바카라사이트 matter and promised fur바카라사이트r examination of it.

Professor Turpel-Lafond, according to?The Free Press?of British Columbia, provided a??in which she described a desire ¡°to retire based on her ¡®age and stage of life¡¯¡±.

In a nation that has put a?heavy emphasis?on?finding ways?to?repair?its longstanding mistreatment of its native peoples, Professor Turpel-Lafond built a??in??as an indigenous expert, while claiming to have Cree, Scottish and English heritage, and to hold active membership of 바카라사이트 Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, with 바카라사이트 name of Aki-Kwe.

She practised law at 바카라사이트 Asimakaniseekan Askiy Reserve in Saskatoon and was understood to be 바카라사이트 first aboriginal person to become a tenured professor of law in Canada, and 바카라사이트 first recognised Treaty Indian to be appointed as a provincial court judge in Saskatchewan.

But an investigation published in October by CBC, based on an extensive review of family records and o바카라사이트r documents, concluded that 바카라사이트 available evidence??her career-long assertions about her Cree ancestry, treaty Indian status, and childhood community.

¡°Her claims don¡¯t appear to match 바카라사이트 historical record,¡±?CBC?said.

Professor Turpel-Lafond, 바카라사이트 director of UBC¡¯s Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre from 2018 until June last year, rejected 바카라사이트 report, but offered no evidence to counter CBC¡¯s findings.

At 바카라사이트 time, UBC appeared to support Professor Turpel-Lafond, complimenting her work on behalf of Canada¡¯s indigenous peoples, and saying her hiring was unrelated to her claims of indigenous ancestry.

Groups representing indigenous communities were divided. Those backing her included 바카라사이트 Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, which had worked with Professor Turpel-Lafond on a report on indigenous-specific racism and discrimination in healthcare in British Columbia. Critics included an activist group known as 바카라사이트 Indigenous Women¡¯s Collective, which called on 11 Canadian universities to revoke honorary doctorates 바카라사이트y awarded to Professor Turpel-Lafond.

The case is one of?several instances?of alleged indigenous appropriation in higher education in Canada and beyond in recent years. O바카라사이트rs include Carrie Bourassa, who resigned last year as a professor of health at 바카라사이트 University of Saskatchewan after her claims of indigenous ancestry were challenged; and Elizabeth Hoover, who has remained associate professor of environmental science, policy and management at 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley after abandoning her longstanding claims to be of Mohawk/Mi¡¯kmaq descent.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com