First of all, there are many American Indians, last I checked. There is no "the American Indian."
Second, who cares? Ms. Thom has been documented as not what she claims to be. She is impersonating a tribal leader. She is not a member of the federally recognized Shawnee tribes. She just created her own group, called it a tribe, and declared herself "clan mother." Now she purports to be an "American Indian" leader. She has nothing REAL to share about Shawnees or American Indians.
Even if Ms. Thom really had Shawnee ancestry (which it is publicly documented that she doesn't), again, that doesn't make her Shawnee, much less a Shawnee leader, when the Shawnee governments say she is neither.
I have Irish ancestry but that doesn't make me an Irish citizen. Having Irish ancestry certainly doesn't give me the right to form a group, call it Ireland, and declare myself the queen of Ireland. That would be absurd on its face. So why does mainstream society accept the same bizarre notion when applied to American Indians?
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Who cares about their opinion on "the American Indian"?
First of all, there are many American Indians, last I checked. There is no "the American Indian."
Second, who cares? Ms. Thom has been documented as not what she claims to be. She is impersonating a tribal leader. She is not a member of the federally recognized Shawnee tribes. She just created her own group, called it a tribe, and declared herself "clan mother." Now she purports to be an "American Indian" leader. She has nothing REAL to share about Shawnees or American Indians.
Even if Ms. Thom really had Shawnee ancestry (which it is publicly documented that she doesn't), again, that doesn't make her Shawnee, much less a Shawnee leader, when the Shawnee governments say she is neither.
I have Irish ancestry but that doesn't make me an Irish citizen. Having Irish ancestry certainly doesn't give me the right to form a group, call it Ireland, and declare myself the queen of Ireland. That would be absurd on its face. So why does mainstream society accept the same bizarre notion when applied to American Indians?