Federal research funder launches pilot aimed at rooting out Indigenous identity fraud

The federal body that funds research in Canada is set to launch a pilot project aimed at ensuring that grants and jobs meant for Indigenous people go to genuine Indigenous people. 

This is the latest step by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), commonly called the tri-agencies, to respond to the growing problem of Indigenous identity fraud. 

During the past few years, there have been a number of high profile cases in which the identity of academics who claim Indigenous ancestry have been called into question. 

That has lead to widespread concern that scholarships, academic positions and grants that are intended for Indigenous people may be going to people with questionable ancestry claims. 

"As this issue has become more prominent, many Indigenous people in communities have been calling for action and in particular for the agencies to move beyond self-identification," said Karine Duhamel, the director of Indigenous strategy for SSHRC.  

Until now, the tri-agencies have awarded grants or positions based on self-identification. Essentially, if someone merely claimed Indigenous ancestry, that claim was accepted as true without any proof being required. 

Duhamel said the tri-agencies have decided that self-identification is no longer enough. Instead, they are moving toward a system that will require documentation from Indigenous communities. 

In other words, the new policy requires someone who receives an award or position intended for Indigenous people to prove that they have citizenship or membership in a recognized North American Indigenous community. 

"We absolutely want to respect the inherent rights of Indigenous collectives to determine their own membership and citizenship and to let us know if those are indeed their people," said Duhamel.  

She said the tri-agencies are aware that some people don't have documentation like a status card or a citizenship card. She said in those cases, accommodations will be made. 

"There is another way for them to kind of come forward but they'll still require a reference and some supporting documentation about who they are." 

Deterrent effect

She said while the tri-agencies intend to eventually implement this policy organization-wide, they are starting with an eight-month pilot project on Oct. 1. At that time, the new policy will apply to the Indigenous Scholars Award and Supplements Pilot Initiative.  

Duhamel said this pilot project will help ensure "that the policy that we have drafted works for people, that it's not overly burdensome, but that it's also rigorous." 

She said the hope is that this policy will have a deterrent effect "to people that may otherwise feel like they won't ever have to provide the information." 

Duhamel said the tri-agencies won't be able to use this policy to go after people who are currently receiving benefits from a false claim of Indigenous ancestry. 

"It's not really something that legally or contractually we can do, because the process through which they applied didn't require this at that time," she said. 

Duhamel said after the pilot project, the results will be analyzed and the policy will be sharpened and expanded to more tri-agency programs.