Author Joseph Boyden ended his silence Wednesday, giving interviews on his claims of Native heritage to Globe and Mail and CBC Radio.
In both interviews, Boyden chose his interviewer. For the Globe it was Books editor Mark Medley. You can read the Globe interview here. For CBC’s q, Boyden’s interviewer was his “friend” Candy Palmater. You can listen to the full q interview here.
Boyden defended his claims to Indigenous ancestry in both interviews in a the same way: “A small part of me is Indigenous, but it’s a big part of who I am.”
APTN tweeted Wednesday it has asked Boyden on multiple occasions for an interview. Boyden has yet to take the outlet up on its requests.
Author @josephboyden is in the media responding to this story by @JorgeBarrera https://t.co/wyQ5ojPQh4@APTNNews has requested a # of invus pic.twitter.com/NXByRJTJ52
— APTN National News (@APTNNews) January 11, 2017
Robert Jago is a researcher who was one of the first to raise question about Boyden’s claims. He’s written for CANADALAND why he did. Jago tweeted as he listened to the interview starting here. His concluding thought:
@rjjago I hope this is him saying that he's not qualified to speak on native politics ever again in the future. 74
— Robert Jago (@rjjago) January 12, 2017
Adam Gaudry, on the faculty of University of Alberta’s Native Studies department, had a detailed breakdown of the CBC interview, starting here:
Sitting down to listen, now. I've researched settler Indigenization for the past few years, seems applicable here:https://t.co/gQMbh6WcNq
— Adam Gaudry (@adamgaudry) January 12, 2017
Author Aaron Paquette was not impressed:
Inconsistent, contradictory, and entitled.
In essence: I can't prove anything but I FEEL it so just trust me. No, it's not in any records
— Aaron Paquette (@aaronpaquette) January 12, 2017
CANADALAND publisher Jesse Brown wonders why CBC let Boyden use them to further his PR push:
1. So it's quite clear that CBC played ball with @josephboyden in an exchange of "exclusive" access for friendly coverage on his terms.
— Jesse Brown (@JesseBrown) January 12, 2017
5.Of course the opposite is true. An accountability intvw comparing what has been represented to what is factual would be far more "real"
— Jesse Brown (@JesseBrown) January 12, 2017
Author and educator Debbie Reese added some context to Boyden’s claims of community adoption:
In his interview, Boyden referenced Native families that adopted him. That's complicated/complex topic that gets used in not-good ways.
— Debbie Reese (@debreese) January 12, 2017
Comedian Ryan McMahon—who recently guested on Short Cuts—said:
Listening to this interview, he not only doesn't get it, he's an asshole too. Holy shit.
— Ryan McMahon (@RMComedy) January 12, 2017
Elsewhere:
Joseph boyden said he was from specific nations and communities that he knew he wasn't from. This isn't some vague BQ/identity thing
— Fancy Bebamikawe (@FancyBebamikawe) January 12, 2017
Those Boyden interviews are painful. Why would CBC & Globe pander to that? Dude, buck up & sit down with APTN. Your life & career will go on
— sarahpvictoria (@sarahpvictoria) January 12, 2017
The recent Boyden interviews by the CBC & Globe both entail some rather sizable lapses in journalistic standards. Hugely problematic. https://t.co/UukMG8GQ6S
— Ian Mosbγ (@Ian_Mosby) January 12, 2017
