Who is Kay LeClaire? Pretendian cultural appropriation controversy explained amid Wisconsin art leader expose

Kay LeClaire, a prominent personality in the Wisconsin queer and indigenous art space, has been exposed for faking their native American heritage. The deception surfaced through a report by local publication Madison365 on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

According to the report, LeClaire was traced to white ancestry in November 2022 in an online forum, New Age Fraud, by an anonymous "hobbyist genealogist" of indigenous background, with the username AdvancedSmite.

Kay LeClaire also went by the Ojibwe name, nibiiwakamigkwe, after claiming that they were of Metis, Oneida, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Cuban, and Jewish heritage since 2017.

After digging through public records online, AdvancedSmite presented well-researched evidence linking the Wisconsin resident to German, Swedish, and French-Canadian immigrants.

In a statement to Madison365, LeClaire, who has been accused of profiting off the deception, apologized and wrote that they were still processing information that had come their way in December. They said:

"I am sorry. A lot of information has come to my attention since late December. I am still processing it all and do not yet know how to respond adequately. What I can do now is offer change."

Indigenous tattoo studio and artist collective, giige, that was co-founded by Kay LeClaire, revealed that the pretendian is no longer a member as of December 31, 2022.

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Kay LeClaire called themself "white" in a 2017 Facebook post

Pretendian is a term for someone falsifying an indigenous identity by making fraudulent claims of belonging to a native tribal nation, or lying about native ancestry. Also known as ethnic fraud or race shifting, pretendianism is regarded as an extreme type of cultural appropriation.

A photo found by AdvancedSmite of LeClaire in 2012 showed them with lighter skin than their 2021 counterpart (Image via AdvancedSmite & Nipinet Landsem/Madison365).

Kay LeClaire, 28, ticks all these boxes, according to the Madison365 report. The pretendian, who used the indigenous idea of "two-spirit" referring to a non-binary identity, had called themself a "white woman in her 20s" in a 2017 Facebook post.

The screenshot from the now-deleted account was shared by giige tattoo artist, Nipinet Landsem.

Nipinet Landsem, tattoo artist at giige, had suspicions but wanted to give LeClaire the benefit of doubt (Image via Nipinet Landsem/Madison365).

Kay LeClaire, emerging as a leader representing indigenous voices in Wisconsin, received access to various resources, alongside the trust and backing of the community.

According to the report, LeClaire's vocal support for the community and their fabricated indigenous identity had gained them a position in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women's Task Force, speaking gigs, art exhibitions, artists’ stipends, and a paid residency at the University of Wisconsin.

LeClaire was also a co-owner of indigenous artist collective, giige. In a statement released on Tuesday, they publicly broke ties and announced LeClaire's separation from the collective as of December 31, 2022.

The statement mentioned that the collective was founded to bring healing through ink back to Indigenous and queer bodies and that Kay LeClaire went against the values and perpetuated harm within the Teejop community and beyond.

They added:

"Without our knowledge or consent, Kay Le Claire used our position as an Indigenous-led business to inflate their platform and expand their access to an already vulnerable community."

LeClaire told Madison365 that they will make efforts to reduce harm going forward. They wrote:

"Currently, this means that I am not using the Ojibwe name given to me and am removing myself from all community spaces, positions, projects, and grants and will not seek new ones."

According to AdvancedSmite, the forum user who uncovered the truth, the pretendian issue is not isolated to Kay LeClaire, and is part of a larger fight for native future and identity.