Andrea Smith (academic)

Andrea Smith
Andrea Smith
	Andrea Smith in 2011
Born	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupations	Academic; activist;
Academic background
Alma mater	Harvard University (BA); Union Theological Seminary (MDiv); University of California, Santa Cruz (PhD); University of California Irvine School of Law
Academic work
Institutions	University of Michigan; University of California, Riverside;
Main interests	Feminist studies; Native American studies;

Andrea Lee Smith is an American academic, feminist, and activist. Smith's work has primarily focused on issues of violence against women of color and their communities, specifically Native American women. Formerly an assistant professor of American Culture and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she is also a co-founder of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, the Boarding School Healing Project, and the Chicago chapter of Women of All Red Nations.

Smith is currently employed as a professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at University of California, Riverside. In August 2023, the university announced that she would resign from the university in August 2024 to become an emerita professor, due to charges that she "made fraudulent claims to Native American identity in violation of the Faculty Code of Conduct provisions concerning academic integrity."^[1]^[2]

Since at least 1991, Smith has claimed to be Cherokee. However, she has never been enrolled in a recognized Cherokee tribe, and genealogist David Cornsilk, who has said Smith hired him twice to research her claims of heritage, found no evidence of Cherokee ancestry for Smith. The controversy over Smith's claim to be Cherokee received relatively little attention outside academic circles until 2015, when her claim was more widely publicized in more mainstream media outlets.^[3] A number of Native American scholars, including a group of Cherokee women in academia,^[4] have rejected Smith's self-identification as Cherokee, and The Daily Beast has dubbed Smith "the Native American Rachel Dolezal".^[5]^[6]^[7]

^ Quinn, Ryan. "Professor Leaving University After Being Dubbed 'Pretendian' for Years". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
^ Patel, Vimal (August 27, 2023). "Prominent Scholar Who Claimed to Be Native American Resigns". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference thurman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Jasnick, Scott (July 6, 2015). "Fake Cherokee?". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
^ Allen, Samantha (June 30, 2015). "Meet the Native American Rachel Dolezal". Daily Beast. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
^ ICTMN Staff (July 9, 2015). "Andrea Smith Releases Statement on Current Media Controversy". Indian Country Today. Retrieved July 10, 2015.

[QuinnPretendian-1] Quinn, Ryan. "Professor Leaving University After Being Dubbed 'Pretendian' for Years". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved August 18, 2023.

[2] Patel, Vimal (August 27, 2023). "Prominent Scholar Who Claimed to Be Native American Resigns". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 29, 2023.

[:0-3] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[thurman-4] Cite error: The named reference thurman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[FakeCherokee-5] Jasnick, Scott (July 6, 2015). "Fake Cherokee?". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved July 6, 2015.

[Dolezal-6] Allen, Samantha (June 30, 2015). "Meet the Native American Rachel Dolezal". Daily Beast. Retrieved July 7, 2015.

[ICTMN_Staff-7] ICTMN Staff (July 9, 2015). "Andrea Smith Releases Statement on Current Media Controversy". Indian Country Today. Retrieved July 10, 2015.

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