We already covered one of these professors. What in the heck is going on here?
The College Fix reports:
Three University of Kansas professors now accused of falsely claiming Native American ancestryThree University of Kansas professors, historian Kent Blansett, biologist Raymond Pierotti and geographer Jay Johnson, now have been accused of fraudulently representing themselves as Native Americans.Blansett (pictured, left) was accused of misrepresenting his lineage by journalist Jacqueline Keeler, who investigates those who falsely claim Native American ancestry, as well as by AncestorStealing, a website that publishes research on the subject, The College Fix reported earlier this month.On the heels of that article, The Kansas City Star recently reported that “some Native grassroots groups and researchers allege [Professor] Raymond Pierotti in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology and [Professor] Jay Johnson in the department of geography and atmospheric science are also ‘pretendians’ – slang to designate someone faking Native American heritage.”These accusers “say, based on independent research of the men’s family trees, that the professors are white, and white only, and that they’ve built careers and profits off of a lie,” according to the Star.The Fix reached out to the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds, a grassroots whistle-blower association comprising citizens of federally recognized tribes and allies and dedicated to “expos[ing] ethnic frauds,” to ask for information regarding the accusations against Blansett, Pierotti (pictured, center) or Johnson (pictured, right).“Those KU professors you mentioned are indeed ethnic frauds pretending to be American Indians,” director and co-founder Lianna Costantino said via email. “They are not. Their genealogy is up on our website.”The Fix reached out to University of Kansas media relations as well as Blansett, Johnson, and Pierotti by email asking for comment on the accusations. Neither KU, Johnson nor Blansett responded.Pierotti responded July 25 with a statement defending his work at KU.“I am proud of the record I have accomplished, none of which depends on any of the accusations made,” Pierotti wrote.
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