Photo edit of Elizabeth Hoover. Credit: Alexander J. Williams III/Pop Acta.
Photo edit of Elizabeth Hoover. Credit: Alexander J. Williams III/Pop Acta.

University of California Professor Apologizes for False Claims of Native American Ancestry

Elizabeth Hoover, an environmental science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, issued a letter of apology after being accused of falsely claiming Native American heritage. In the lengthy statement, Hoover apologized for the situation she caused by her past assertions that she had Mohawk and Mi’kmaq ancestry, as the Daily Wire and other outlets reported.

Hoover released a statement apologizing for the situation, saying:

“I hurt Native people who have been my friends, colleagues, students, and family, both directly through fractured trust and through activating historical harms… I have negatively impacted people emotionally and culturally. For this hurt I have caused, I am deeply sorry.”

“In my twenties and thirties, I lived in different Native communities, where I knew I did not have the breadth and depth of connection that these folks had to Native family, history, and culture. At the time I wrongly felt that my distant connection was enough for me to claim a Native identity alongside them.”

Backlash and Calls for Resignation Follow False Claims

After Elizabeth Hoover was accused of falsely claiming Native American heritage, students at Berkeley drafted a collective statement calling for her resignation, which garnered over 350 signatures from faculty members, organizations, and prior associates of Hoover. Though Hoover previously released an apology in October and rescinded her claims to Native American identity, her actions have come under scrutiny, as Hoover along with others who have falsely claimed minority heritage have already benefited from their claims.

Hoover’s case is not unique, as several white academics have incorrectly claimed minority heritage in recent years. Most notably, Sen. Elizabeth Warren apologized to the nation in 2019 after a genetic test confirmed that she was as little as 0.1% Native American, which many Americans have and is not unique. This comes after President Donald Trump called Sen. Warren “Pocahontas,” and Warren decided to get a genetic test in an attempt to prove Trump wrong. Of course, in the end, she only proved him right.

Others, such as Rachel Dolezal, the former president of the NAACP chapter in Spokane, Washington, from 2014 until June 2015, was also falsely claimed minority heritage, as she pretended to be African American, and even lied about members of her family. Despite this, some have still been welcomed into the media and academia. It’s unclear whether these people who falsely claim minority heritage do so to profit off it and further their careers, or if they are experiencing an identity crisis.

Pledges to Make Amends

In her apology letter, Hoover also expressed regret for negatively impacting Native people emotionally and culturally. She pledged to make donations to Native American farms, food sovereignty, and educational programs, as well as to retire her dance regalia, ribbon skirts, moccasins, and Native jewelry. Furthermore, she vowed to focus her future research on supporting people and communities with whom she has an authentic relationship.



Comments

  1. LMAO! I am sure Senator Warren would be proud that other corrupt Democrats are fallowing in her corrupt foot steps! Lets hope the kids are learning just how corrupt the Democrats are! As they will be the next batch of victims the Democrat will attempt to cheat

  2. Let he who throws the first stone, be someone without sin…….at this rate there will be no one allowed to speak and no one allowed to listen even if they could….,..the definition of cancel culture.😥

  3. No identity crisis, whatever that is, but simply a ploy for profit and money. The offenders get minority-status benefits, and the schools get to claim minority-hire diversity. It’s a win-win until the fraud is exposed. Hoover is right about one small part- these fraudsters hurt the communities they try to claim to be a part of. Who is gonna trust these minority appropriators and the schools that eagerly hire them?

  4. In the scheme of things, who cares? An obviously mentally disturbed individual in the hallowed halls of academia.
    Who would believe that?

  5. People need to accept who they really are and stop pretending, but instead strive at doing good for humanity.

  6. I find this confusing… Both Warren and Hoover appear to have had DNA tests confirming a very minor genetic connection %. Just wondering exactly what DNA % relationship might be sufficient for one to legitimately claim descendancy…

  7. Why are these lefties so damned dense? She had to have known she would be exposed at some point, but I guess her ego is every bit as big as Pochontas # 1 !!

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