‘Grey owl syndrome’ carries on the Settler tradition of “playing Indian”

By Thohahoken Michael Doxtater

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Settler culture police Commissioner Margaret Atwood discovered “The Grey Owl Syndrome” in her lectures Strange Things. The syndrome afflicts Settlers with “going Indian” and “playing Indian.” In the 2020s, cases involving Buffy Sainte-Marie and Thomas King have reignited questions of authenticity and cultural impersonation in the tradition of Archie Belaney — the original Grey Owl.