- Patricia Marroquín Norby is accused of falsifying her Apache roots
- She is curator of Native American art at the Metropolitan Museum.
Indigenous activists have questioned the credentials of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s first Native American curator, according to a report.
Patricia Marroquin Norby, 53, won praise in 2020 after being hired by the famous museum, with The Met saying she was chosen after a “long and competitive search.”
She described herself as proudly “Apache” and the museum praised the appointment.
But Native American groups say The New York Post Its roots are invented.
“She’s definitely not Native American,” said one furious critic.
Patricia Marroquin Norby, 53, won praise in 2020 after being hired by the famous museum, with The Met saying she was chosen after a “long and competitive search.”
The Met has intervened in the dispute, insisting that she is telling the truth because she is a descendant of the ‘Pureapacha people’.
But the tribe, rooted in Mexico and parts of Texas, is not among the 574 officially recognized as Native Americans.
Norby took to social media this week to criticize the allegations against her, claiming she is being attacked by a group of Native American women trying to “cancel” her.
She denied the questioning of her roots, and said she was proud of her ‘Purepacha and Nde family roots from Mexico, northern Mexico and Texas.’
“I am not going to hide my identity or my family history in shame,” she added.
He has stated in numerous interviews and promotional works for The Met that he is of Purépacha ancestry, which is not officially recognized by the Indian Affairs division of the United States Department of the Interior.
A spokesperson for The Met also insisted that “Patricia Marroquín Norby is of Purépacha ancestry and also descends from indigenous communities in what is now Texas,” but activists say she has no legitimate claim to being Native American.
Kathy Griffin, a member of the Cherokee Nation who compiled a genealogy of Marroquin Norby’s family, told The Post: “With all the Native American scholars out there, we really wonder why the museum chose Patricia, who is definitely not Native American.”
Norby insists that she is Native American and that she is being unfairly attacked by women who are “trying to cancel her.”
Griffin alleged that in his analysis of his genealogy, there was no evidence that any of his direct ancestors were enrolled members of an officially designated tribe.
“It is again a genocide of Native Americans,” he said. “Now the descendants (of white people) are colonizing us again by claiming to be us.”
A member of the Purepacha tribe added to the outlet that the Met curator ‘wants to be the only Indian in the room, and that doesn’t serve the community.’
“This is the first time someone who claims to be part of our community has behaved this way,” they said.
Jacqueline Keeler, a Native American activist and writer, also called her a “predendian,” a person who falsely claims to have indigenous roots.
“With suitors, we’ve noticed a lot of red flags,” he said. ‘One of them is the change of native identities.
“That can be seen with (Marroquín) Norby and his changing statements.”
Norby was hired with great fanfare in 2020 to oversee the Met’s Native American art.
