Professor Watchlist

Elizabeth Hoover is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). According to her university profile, her “research focuses on Native American environmental health and food sovereignty movements.” Hoover has also “published articles about food sovereignty, environmental reproductive justice in Native American communities, the cultural impact of fish advisories on Native communities, tribal citizen science, and health social movements.”

Since childhood, Hoover has identified as a descendant of the Mohawk and Mi’kmaq Indian tribes. However, according to Campus Reform, she revealed that “she has no tribal connections after decades of claiming otherwise.” This discovery was based on “genealogical research.”

On her website, Hoover posted a “Statement about Identity” providing her reaction to her genealogical discovery. In this short essay, she addresses her life experience under the assumption that she was a native. In the opening paragraphs, she provided background on her upbringing:  

“Our Native identity has structured not only our family activities but how we relate to other people and they to us. I have been a fancy shawl dancer and bead worker for over three decades, something my sisters and I learned at powwows when we were young, and this has brought us great joy. I have been grateful to the people of Akwesasne who took me in called me their chosen daughter, auntie, and friend, and who put me to work. When people told me ‘welcome home’ when I would come to visit, that meant something to me. In short, this identity has shaped my entire life and guided my work.”

Hoover concludes: 

“Now, without any official documentation verifying the identity I was raised with, I do not think it is right for me to continue to claim to be a scholar of Mohawk/Mi’kmaq descent, even though my mother is insistent that she inherited this history for a reason.”

According to The Daily Californian, Hoover, who used to teach at Brown University, “has received criticism in light of her statement, with many coming forward to allege the harm she caused Native communities there, especially regarding a statement she wrote denouncing the Pokanoket Tribe’s calls for Land Back from Brown.”

“UC Berkeley considers the issue of Hoover’s ethnic identity to be a ‘deeply personal matter,’ according to a campus statement provided by campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore.” The college does not “consider race or tribal identity in making employment decisions, in light of allegations that Hoover was a part of a “cluster hire.”

Published — November 17, 2022