111. Pretendians

09/19/24 • 40 min

"Pretendians" are people who falsely claim a native American or indigenous Canadian identity.

In 2024, a 59 year old woman who falsely claimed her daughters were adopted Inuit girls was sentenced to three years in a Canadian prison. Karima Manji lied about her daughters' heritage to claim $150,000 from funds reserved for Inuit people. The judge sentenced her to more than the two years recommended by the prosecution, stating that Manji had "victimized the Inuit of Nunavut by stealing their identity."

Should crimes involving cultural appropriation attract a heavier sentence?

Hosts: Dr Julia Shaw and Amber Haque.

Producer: Shabnam Grewal Assistant Producer: Rachel Oakes Executive Producer: Innes Bowen Production Coordinator: Juliette Harvey Mix Engineer: John Scott Commissioning Editor: Dylan Haskins Assistant Commissioners: Izzy Lee-Poulton and Sarah Green

"Pretendians" are people who falsely claim a native American or indigenous Canadian identity.

Should crimes involving cultural appropriation attract a heavier sentence?

Hosts: Dr Julia Shaw and Amber Haque.

Previous Episode

110. Delimar Vera

Baby girl Delimar Vera is declared dead in a house fire. Years later, the bereaved mother thinks she recognises her at a party. The girl she thinks is her daughter is called Aaliyah. The woman who has brought her up claims to be Aaliyah’s birth mother.

Hosts Amber Haque and Dr Julia Shaw discuss the truth about Delimar Vera’s real fate – and how the research on phantom pregnancy and child abduction help us understand what happened and why.

Producers: Maggie Latham and Rachel Oakes Executive Producer: Innes Bowen Production Coordinator: Juliette Harvey Mix Engineer: John Scott Recording Studio: 88Hertz Commissioning Editor: Dylan Haskins Assistant Commissioners: Izzy Lee-Poulton and Sarah Green

Next Episode

112. Four Boys

Three boys from the same Sunderland school were found dead within a few months of each other in the early 1990s. Their deaths were initially blamed on sniffing glue to get high. But the boys' families thought they had been murdered. And they were right. Two years later, Steven Grieveson was convicted of serial murder. But the investigation wasn't over.

Presenters: Criminal psychologist Dr Julia Shaw and journalist and true crime documentary maker Amber Haque.

Producers: Maggie Latham and Rachel Oakes Executive Producer: Innes Bowen Production Coordinator: Juliette Harvey Mix Engineer: John Scott Commissioning Editor: Dylan Haskins Assistant Commissioners: Izzy Lee-Poulton and Sarah Green