A collective petition from two UC Berkeley doctoral candidates and a student, calling for Prof. Hoover to resign, garnered 350 signatures
An academic scholar at the University of California (UC) Berkeley admitted she is actually white after misidentifying herself as Native American for her entire life, according to a statement on her personal website.
Associate professor Elizabeth Hoover apologized to the Native communities she lived among in a “Letter of Apology and Accountability” posted May 1, saying she incorrectly identified herself based on incomplete information. Hoover teaches environmental science and policy management at the university, according to her LinkedIn page.
“In uncritically living an identity based on family stories without seeking out a documented connection to these communities, I caused harm. I hurt Native people who have been my friends, colleagues, students, and family, both directly through fractured trust and through activating historical harms,” Hoover wrote. (RELATED: Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren Announces Run For Third Term)
Hoover has published literature about Native American food sovereignty and other indigenous issues, according to her bio page on the university’s website. However, she said she never possessed proper documentation of her alleged Native American ethnicity.
“Identifying as a Native person gave me access to spaces and resources that I would not have otherwise, resources that were intended for students of color. Before taking part in programs or funding opportunities that were identity-related or geared towards under-represented people I should have ensured that I was claimed in return by the communities I was claiming,” Hoover wrote. “By avoiding this inquiry, I have received academic fellowships, opportunities, and material benefits that I may not have received had I not been perceived as a Native scholar.”
Hoover previously shared posts regarding Native American protests and food summits on her Twitter account, which has been inactive since 2020.
She claimed to descend from Mohawk and Mi’kmaq tribes, native to the northeastern United States and Canada, and said she believed her grandmother was a Mohawk woman.
A collective petition from two UC Berkeley doctoral candidates and a student, calling for Hoover to resign, garnered 350 signatures in November 2022, The Daily Californian reported.
“I have brought hurt, harm, and broken trust to the Native community at large, and to specific Native communities I have worked with and lived alongside, and for that, I am deeply sorry,” Hoover wrote.
Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in 2018 apologized for identifying as Native American for nearly 20 years, following a DNA test allegedly demonstrating she had a Native American ancestor from six to 10 generations prior. She had previously listed herself as a minority in the 1986-94 directory for the Association of American Law Schools. A spokesman for Harvard Law School, where the senator began teaching in 1992, indicated Warren was its only Native American professor as recently as 1996.
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