Elizabeth M Hoover, an associate professor at the Berkeley school of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, has admitted to erroneously claiming Native American ancestry throughout her academic career in research on indigenous food sovereignty. She has faced calls to resign for causing harm by living an identity based on family stories, without seeking confirmed links to these communities. The scholar acknowledged the trust she had broken and the historical harms she had activated by avoiding inquiries into her links with Native communities when applying for identity-related programs and related benefits. Hoover said she does not plan to resign but is working with restorative justice facilitators to make amends for the harm caused. Some criticism of Hoover for her gaslighting apology, while others supported her work and noted that debates about her identity were being held in the “bubble of academia.” In October, Hoover announced that she would no longer identify as a person of Mohawk and Mi’Kmaq descent after researching her genealogy.
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