Canadian Indigenous health expert 'Morning Star Bear' who once appeared in Ted Talk wearing blue cape and clutching feather, is suspended from Indigenous health positions 'because she has no Indigenous heritage'
A Canadian Indigenous public health expert has been placed on leave from both public institutions where she lead research after investigations found no evidence of her Indigenous heritage.
Carrie Bourassa, or Morning Star Bear's, colleagues and the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation investigated and failed to find any Indigenous relatives.
The University of Saskatchewan professor and the scientific director of the Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) announced her suspension on Monday.
For nearly 20 years Bourassa, who is now in her late 40s, said that she was born into a family with Métis, Anishnaabe and Tlingit roots but has never shown any documentation proving her ancestry.
She has recently come under fire as her family, colleagues, and an investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation claim she has no Indigenous hertiage
Métis is an Indigenous community from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. The Anishinaabe are an ethnic group of Indigenous people including the Métis community.
The Tlingit tribe is a small Indigenous group from the Yukon and British Columbia.
'My name is Morning Star Bear,' she said, tearing up at the beginning of her 2019 Ted Talk where she wore a bright blue shawl and Métis sash while carrying a feather.
'I'm just going to say it — I'm emotional,' she said, telling the crowd that she could feel her ancestors, and in particularly, her Métis grandfather, in the room.
'I'm Bear Clan. I'm Anishinaabe Métis from Treaty Four Territory,' Bourassa said, explaining that she grew up in a dysfunctional family plagued by addiction, violence and racism due to 'intergenerational trauma' stemming from her family's 'half-breed' status.
Canadian Indigenous health expert suspended from her job amid claims she has NO Indigenous heritage | Daily Mail Online
