Crystal Semaganis Faces Lawsuit Over “Pretendian” Accusations
A legal battle is unfolding in the Yukon, and at the centre of it is a First Nations woman named Michelle Christine Cameron, who is more widely known as Crystal Semaganis. She’s the head of the Ghost Warrior Society, a group that says its work is to protect Indigenous spaces from people who falsely claim Indigenous identity. Now, she is being sued for more than half a million dollars by four women who say her public accusations damaged their lives.
The women involved are Amanda Buffalo, Krista Reid, Amaris Manderschied, and their mother, Louise Darroch. In their statement of claim, they argue that Semaganis went too far. According to them, she researched their family history and concluded they were of Ukrainian heritage rather than Indigenous. From there, they allege, she launched a relentless campaign on social media, calling them “grifters,” liars, and people who used a false Indigenous identity for personal and professional gain. Two of these women actually work with Indigenous communities, and they say their reputations, careers, and even their mental health have been severely harmed. They are asking for over $500,000 in damages and want Semaganis to retract her statements publicly.
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On her side, Semaganis maintains that her work is done in defense of Indigenous communities. She says she only begins investigating a person’s claimed identity if she receives multiple complaints from the public. In Darroch’s case, Semaganis says she was told that Darroch had been adopted and informed later in life that she had Indigenous ancestry. But after doing her own research, Semaganis concluded the family was of Ukrainian descent and made that information public. The Canadian Press notes that none of her research has been independently verified, and none of the claims in the lawsuit have yet been tested in court.
Semaganis herself is a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, a period when thousands of Indigenous children were removed from their families and placed in non-Indigenous homes. She says that experience drives her determination to expose what she calls “pretendianism.” In her words, people who falsely claim Indigenous identity take up spaces, resources, and platforms that should belong to true community members. She argues that this trend has gone unchecked for decades, and it makes healing and reconnection much harder for survivors like herself.
Still, she acknowledges the work she does is “uncharted territory.” She says mistakes can happen, but when new, credible information comes forward, she corrects the record and informs the community. Her Ghost Warrior Society uses a standard that requires identifying an Indigenous ancestor within the past four generations, which is stricter than the federal government’s two-generation rule for issuing Status cards.
The broader issue of false Indigenous identity has drawn national attention in recent years, especially with high-profile controversies around public figures. Indigenous leaders and organizations have spoken out strongly, saying that false claims further marginalize authentic voices. For Semaganis, that belief outweighs the risk of lawsuits. She insists the work is necessary, saying every time a “pretendian” is removed from a space, room is created for survivors and displaced Indigenous people to reclaim what was theirs.
This legal case, now before the Supreme Court of Yukon, will test not only her methods but also the boundaries between free expression, accountability, and harm. For now, the four women say they have endured reputational damage and serious personal consequences, while Semaganis remains firm that protecting identity is worth the fight.
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