We have discussed the phenomenon of fake aboriginals in the US and even
Canada on this newsgroup before but it turns out this is an issue in
Australia too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Oz0tzCaHxw [5 minutes]

While the names of elite Australians may not be familiar, the practice
of some elite individuals claiming aboriginal heritage without a lick of
evidence to back them up is deeply familiar.

The video makes the very good point that the documentation used by
people claiming aboriginal descent to qualify for special privileges
granted to aboriginals - like university placements - is widely accepted
by all as genuine so that these same documents should be shown by anyone
claiming aboriginal heritage in high office. That seems like a pretty
reasonable stance to me! Mind you, I'm not sure precisely what
documentation exists in Canada or the US to help people prove that they
are indeed aboriginal or how well-accepted these documents are.

--
Rhino

On Tue, 7 Feb 2023 20:44:47 -0500, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

>The video makes the very good point that the documentation used by
>people claiming aboriginal descent to qualify for special privileges
>granted to aboriginals - like university placements - is widely accepted
>by all as genuine so that these same documents should be shown by anyone
>claiming aboriginal heritage in high office. That seems like a pretty
>reasonable stance to me! Mind you, I'm not sure precisely what
>documentation exists in Canada or the US to help people prove that they
>are indeed aboriginal or how well-accepted these documents are.
>
>
Part of the problem is that several Canadian aboriginal groups claim
the authority to be able to adopt outsiders into their tribe or
'nation' with all the rights + privileges accruing thereto.

I've not heard the federal government has seen fit to recognize these
(except in the specific case of non-natives married to natives) but it
is undoubtedly coming "in the name of reconciliation".