I just finished watching The Pretendians, a documentary featuring Anishinaabe author and playwright Drew Hayden Taylor. I have heard of the documentary before, but I did not know it was free to watch on the CBC website. Here is the link: The Pretendians 3 | The Passionate Eye | CBC Gem

I had written a blog on pretendians on this website and I even asked Drew Hayden Taylor himself to Retweet my tweet, which he graciously did (thanks Drew, you bumped up my web views by several hundred). So now I am going to check out his stuff. In my earlier university days, I used to love reading his works. https://www.drewhaydentaylor.com/

The show started off with Taylor discussing pretend Indians, prominent people who somehow identified as Indigenous. Right off the bat, I recognized the author of Three Day Road, Joseph Boyden. This is the guy that duped me into thinking that I was reading the works of an Indigenous author. Enough about this guy.

Taylor decided he wanted to try some type of DNA test, while he waited for the results to come in, he took the viewers on a tour of his hometown, Curve Lake First Nation. He even showed where his people live and have their powwow events. A beautiful community, you must watch the show to see it.

He and the film crew (Drew’s crew), headed on over to the west coast to check out the art scene. Taylor and a guest browsed through some shops that showcased Indigenous artwork. They went over many works that may or may not be authentic. You really need to see what they rummaged through, there are so many “fakes” out there. However, there are also many legit designs by Indigenous people that collaborated with businesses to replicate their works.

Again, there are many great designs that must be seen to be believed. Taylor further explored other artists that may be exploiting other tribes or bands. It is an interesting take by a west coast man, that other tribes should not take away or duplicate the works from others.

Tayler went into Indigenous rights and the struggles of many people who seem to have decided to pursue being identified as Aboriginal and even fake status cards. This at about 19:15 of the documentary, very interesting revelations I rarely even read about it, much less heard about. Hayden interviews many others about their Indigenous heritage and linage. All very interesting, please follow the provided links to watch it yourself. Oh, and his results came in, and he almost reveals them at the end.

The Pretendians 3 | The Passionate Eye | CBC Gem