Kay LeClaire Image Screenshot Twitter @madison_365
What in the Elizabeth Warren is going on?
Kay LeClaire, who also went by the name Nibiiwakamigkwe to invoke affiliation with the Indigenous population, is the co-founder of a queer Indigenous artists’ collective in Wisconsin.
LeCaire also identifies as a “two-spirit,” a term used within some Indigenous communities to indicate a “non-binary gender identity.”
LeClaire has stepped down from community positions after being accused of being white.
LeClaire has allegedly been profiting from the identities of Indigenous peoples, according to hobbyist genealogist AdvancedSmite as reported by Madison365.
She has claimed Métis, Oneida, Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Cuban and Jewish heritage, but AdvancedSmite reportedly used online records and resources to find LeClaire’s true lineage – German, Swedish and French Canadian.
Over the past few years, LeClaire, who is a member and co-owner of the artist collective giige, has earned several artists’ stipends, a paid residency at the University of Wisconsin, a place on the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force and many speaking gigs and art exhibitions, it was reported.
LeClaire refused to answer questions, but provided a statement to Madison365.
LeClaire worked with University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty and students between March 2022 and December 2022 and received stipend payments totaling $4,876.56 in private gift/grant funding.
The University issued a statement following the revelations.