Grace Dillon

[Advanced Smite]

Grace Dillon is on the alleged pretendian list. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this post. I haven’t checked her genealogy. The fakes all seem to stick together though. The jacket is a dead giveaway.

https://twitter.com/pretendianslist/status/1401668006346887171?s=21&t=wTONu-Z2ep_JA7WOoE5TWQ

[Diana]

Hi Smite, I already did a quick look-see and both her parents are dead. Her father is from West Virginia and I went back a couple of generations and all are white. Her mother is from South Carolina..? and is also white. I'll have to look into her mother a little closer when I have some time. That's as far as I got. As far as I can see no one in the family is from the Great lakes area. All southern states.

Grace Dillon is on the alleged pretendian list. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of this post. I haven’t checked her genealogy. The fakes all seem to stick together though. The jacket is a dead giveaway.

https://twitter.com/pretendianslist/status/1401668006346887171?s=21&t=wTONu-Z2ep_JA7WOoE5TWQ

[kaeqcekam]

This is beyond ridiculous. The academy needs to do some deep cleaning. I would not be please to paying tens of thousands of dollars only to find out that my professor is a lying liar. I don't care if they are decent at their job, they are not decent people. So, I hope it's clear now that these unethical pretendians do in fact benefit from their fraud. How does one start a thread? Can one be started on Grace Dillon?

[educatedindian]

Already begun, you are now on it. There's a lot of work to do first. That list is one of the most problematic for me. All it does is list. No evidence, nothing to back it up. Some definitely deserve to be there, but even then, there's no reason given for anyone to believe the list. That site is everything we try to avoid in here.

Dillon is probably best known for the term indigenous futurism, trying to make science fiction serve Native needs. A long list of works, and in some good company.

-----------
https://www.pdx.edu/indigenous-nations-studies/our-faculty-and-staff
CORE FACULTY:
Theodore Van Alst JR. Department Chair & Tenured Associate Professor
Cornel Pewewardy (Comanche & Kiowa) Founding Director & Professor Emeritus
Grace Dillon (Anishinaabe) Tenured Professor
Judy BlueHorse Skelton (Nez Perce & Cherokee)    Assistant Professor

ADJUNCT FACULTY:
Rachel Black Elk (Lakota/Lumbee) Carma Corcoran (Chippewa-Cree)
Savahna Jackson (Klamath/Modoc) Gabe Sheoships (Walla Walla/Cayuse)
Ka'ila Farrell-Smith (Kalamath/Modoc) Jermayne Tuckta (Warm Springs)

----------
The rest of the dept is 100% Native. Pewawardy is not just a professor for decades, he's an artist, musician, and Vice Chair of the Comanche Nation. It'd be amazing if she managed to fool so many for so long.

And in the works she published, there is an anthology including Gerald Vizenor, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Sherman Alexie. Again, if she's fooled people, it's on a level we've never seen before.

Dillon does say Anishnaabe, but I haven't found any mention of rez or band, or descendant or unenrollled either. [ETA- I stand corrected. See Cellophane's post and others below. There are also a few sites mentioning her claiming Metis.]

This is different from Noodin where it depends on language skill. Dillon has her degrees in English, but is part of an interdisciplinary study that includes history and others, and writes and presents as an insider. Bolding is mine.

----------
https://www.pdx.edu/news/grace-dillon-consults-new-horror-movie-antlers
Grace Dillon, professor of Indigenous Nations Studies at PSU, consulted on the film.

Dillon, who is herself Anishinaabe, was asked by director Scott Cooper and producer Guillermo del Toro to collaborate on the film to ensure that the depiction of the Windigo was respectful.

While “Antlers” is set in a small Oregon town, the tradition of Windigo Manitou originates from Algonquian-speaking peoples along the northeastern coast. “There are really a lot of tribal peoples that are connected very strongly to this spirit entity,” she says.

There are also different interpretations of the Windigo. “Our sense of Windigo — and that's what they went with — in our language, Anishinaabemowin, refers to greed. It's all about greed,” she says....

Dillon also sent Cooper objects that ended up being used in the movie, including the book Dangerous Spirits: The Windigo in Myth and History. The book was written by PSU professor Shawn Smallman and includes a foreword by Dillon. It discusses a time when the fur trade was falling off due to overhunting and Indigenous people were accused of being Windigo and placed on trial....

On the set Dillon met Chris Ayre, a prominent Cheyenne and Arapaho filmmaker who was born in Portland and grew up in Klamath Falls. “He is one of our biggest native filmmakers,” says Dillon....

-----------

So far I haven't found anything online even criticizing her, except the listing on Alleged Pretendians. Her name was put on the list June 2021, based on "professional genealogist specializing in Quebecois/Metis." No professional name given, no genealogy shown. But Google gives one of the top auto suggestions for her as "pretendian."

There's a lot more needed before we can say.

[cellophane]

From The NishPossessed: Reading Le Guin in Indian Country (2021):
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/26779/ada12-thenis-dil-2017.pdf
(Bold is mine)

Aaniin!
Aaniin is our word for “hello” in Anishinaabemowin. It literally means I see the light in you. And I see many lights today. So much that it is Sâgassige gisiss—the sun has come out of the clouds.

I’m Anishinaabe, “Nish” for short, and my family are from two nations, Bay Mills Nation and Garden River First Nation, along with many, many relatives––Saulteaux on the Canadian side, and all sorts. Once you proliferate, you proliferate. You move and relocate a lot.

Unlike adrienne, I cannot tell you that I grew up on Star Trek—because I lived in the woods. And by woods, I mean we lived in very simple ways. We had no plumbing; we had lots of candles, lots of fires. We lived very, very differently. At the time, I didn’t know that. My dad taught me to create the wiigwaas from birchbark, which is sacred to us. You can create birchbark canoes that really don’t leak. And when you develop that kind of talent or skill as an Indigenous person, it’s something that you want to pass down. Many of our relatives could work it out with a basket, but my dad could work it out with a canoe, only from birch material. We had no TV or theaters or anything where I could become connected to any concept of Star Trek.

So naturally, when I went out to school at UC Riverside, I was absolutely fascinated by all things popular culture because I’d had no background in it whatsoever. And people still to this day will throw out things and I’ll have this horrible “waaah, take notes, I don’t know” feeling. I didn’t know about The Beatles, Elvis Presley—all the things that people think are just a part of your DNA. Our DNA was quite different.

I grew up in what was a pacifist anarchist community and it was the reason why I was very attracted to the novel The Dispossessed. It was native-founded and then we invited others in, because, as Anishinaabe people, that is our thinking. Simon Ortiz, who was Acomo Pueblo, talks about the word for “people” in his language as hanoh. But when he describes it, he makes it very clear that hanoh is not just for his nation. They’re very cognizant of self-recognition and being a nation, but hanoh is extended as a personal hanoh of your community to the hanoh globally of the world. We do that, too, but we use water.

When we greet others and go other places, we talk in our language about the waters: our wetlands with the rice, our mountains, but always the waterway. We’re always figuring out the waterway. And when I go anywhere––this has become a habit of mine––I’m always checking out the waterways to whatever place we’re headed to. It makes sense, then, that even though I’m a professor in Indigenous Nations Studies, I do not just do “scholactivist” projects, but also actual forms of activism for water protectors. Because water protectors are needed not only at Standing Rock but at many, many other places as well.

From Bradbury’s Survivance Stories (2013):
http://www.web.pdx.edu/~dillong/GraceDillonFinalv1.pdf
(Preprint, published in Gloria McMillan et al., Orbiting Ray Bradbury's Mars: Biographical, Anthropological, Literary, Scientific and Other Perspectives.)

When I was a child, I spoke as much Finnish as I could capture from the pacifist-anarchist community where my father, mother, six brothers and sisters and I attended open meetings to debate scripture and the latest news out of Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, and as much Anishinaabemowen as I could gather from my grandfather, an Ojibwe who cooked for the lumberjack camps during timber harvest and who vexed my parents whenever we visited by fishing Eskimo Pies from a glossy white fridge that had a bullet hole straight through its door. But mostly I spoke the lingua franca of the Cold War era; nin jaganashim, in other words. This all happened in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (which is not really Michigan) and not so long ago, though the U.P., back then anyway, must have slipped time in an effort to remain quiet and feral, while electric metropoles like Cheybogan, Peshtigo, Petosky, and others tempted us to cross borders. But we never did. Civilization might as well have been 65 million miles away.

[Advanced Smite]

I've ruled out Native American ancestry through Grace Dillon's maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Marcia Woodland. I will do a separate post for her maternal grandfather, Robert Wilson Corrigan. This post will focus on the individuals in bold text below.

Parents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Lou Laponsie & Carol Marcia Corrigan
Maternal Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Robert Wilson Corrigan & Elizabeth Marcia Woodland
Maternal Great Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: William J Woodland & Mary Margaret (Minnie) Wilcoxson
Maternal Great Great Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Joshua Woodland (IRELAND) & Sarah Wilson (IRELAND)
Maternal Great Great Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: William H Wilcoxson & Elizabeth Allen (SCOTLAND)
Maternal Great Great Great Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Thomas Wilcoxson (England) & Elizabeth (Eliza) Pegg (No Native Ancestry Found)

The link and quoted text below are from an obituary for Grace Dillon's maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Marcia Woodland Corrigan Ewald. It connects Grace Laponsie Dillon to her parents, Lou Laponsie and Carol Marcia Corrigan Laponsie.

Obituary for Elizabeth Marcia "Betty" Ewald (Elizabeth Marcia Woodland)

ELIZABETH “BETTY” MARCIA EWALD, 100, of Cass City, died Sunday, October 31, 2010 in Timberline Lodge Adult Foster Care Home, Caro. She was born October 7, 1910 in Saginaw to William John and Mary Margaret (Wilcoxson) Woodland. She married Robert W. Corrigan in 1934. He died in 1982. She later married Clarence W. Ewald December 29, 1984 in Cass City. He died June 22, 1995.
Betty attended Saginaw Business School after High School. She was a member of the Cass City First Baptist Church. She was formerly the Executive Secretary of the American Cancer Society, St. Joseph County Chapter. Betty worked for the telephone company and for Consumers Power in Saginaw. She loved to read, refinish furniture, and she wrote poetry. Betty had a keen interest in Missionary work. She also enjoyed playing the piano and gardening.

Betty is survived by her children: Carol (Lou) LaPonsie of Cass City, Robert W. Corrigan II of Norway, MI. She was blessed with 12 grandchildren: Robert (Katherine) Corrigan III, Keith Corrigan, Scott Corrigan, Colleen (Scott) Duncan, Daniel LaPonsie, Philip (Roberta) LaPonsie, Aaron (Kathy) LaPonsie, Grace (Tracy) Dillon, Faith LaPonsie, Hope (Steven) Winterhalter, Joy (John) Montei; 24 great grandchildren; 11 great great grandchildren; stepchildren and their families: Ruth (Ron) Bullis of Grand Rapids, William (Jean) Ewald of Cass City, Phyllis (Tom) Montgomery of PA. She is preceded in death by her grandson, Thad Corrigan; sisters: Helen Hope Woodland and Irene Munro.

Funeral service held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, November 6, 2010 in Kranz Funeral Home, Cass City with Pastor David Hill of Cass City First Baptist Church officiating. Interment will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Saginaw. Pallbearers for Mrs. Ewald will be her grandsons: Robert Corrigan III, Keith Corrigan, Scott Corrigan, Daniel LaPonsie, Philip LaPonsie, and Aaron LaPonsie. Memorials may be made to Cass City First Baptist Church. Family and friends may share memories, prayers and stories with the family at www.kranzfuneralhome.com.

Source:https://memorials.kranzfuneralhome.com/Ewald-Elizabeth/582038/obituary.php

Mother of Grace Dillon – Carol Marcia Corrigan Laponsie
1940 United States Federal Census
Name: Carol M Corrigan - Age 5
Estimated Birth Year: 1935
Gender: Female
Race: White
Birthplace: Michigan
Marital Status: Single
Relation to Head of House: Daughter
Home in 1940: Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan
Household members
Elizabeth Corrigan Age 29
Robert W Corrigan Age 28
Carol M Corrigan Age 5
Robert W Corrigan Age 1

Maternal Grandmother of Grace Dillon – Elizabeth Marcia Woodland Corrigan Ewald
1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Elizabeth Woodland - Age 9
Birth Year: 1911
Birthplace: Michigan
Home in 1920: Saginaw Ward 4, Saginaw, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Female
Relation to Head of House: Daughter
Marital Status: Single
Father's Name: William Woodland
Father's Birthplace: Canada
Mother's Name: Minnie Woodland
Mother's Birthplace: Canada
Household Members
William Woodland Age 53
Minnie Woodland Age 54
Elizabeth Woodland Age 9
Elizabeth Willcoxson Age 80

Maternal Great Grandfather of Grace Dillon – William J Woodland
1900 United States Federal Census
Name: William Woodland Age 34
Birth Date: Dec 1865
Birthplace: Canada
Home in 1900: Saginaw Ward 1, Saginaw, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Male
Immigration Year: 1887
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Minnie Woodland
Marriage Year: 1886
Years Married: 14
Father's Birthplace: Ireland
Mother's Birthplace: Ireland
Years in US: 13
Naturalization: Naturalized
Occupation: Freight Checker
Household members
William Woodland Age 34
Minnie Woodland Age 34
Irene Woodland Age 12
Nellie Woodland Age 6

Maternal Great Great Grandfather of Grace Dillon – Joshua Woodland
1871 Census of Canada
Name: Joshua Woodland
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Origin: Irish
Age: 45
Birth Date: 1826
Birth Place: Ireland
Residence Place: Glenelg, Grey South, Ontario
Religion: Weslyan Methodist
Occupation: Merchant
Household members
Hannah Wilson Age 87
Joshua Woodland Age 45
Sarah Woodland Age 32
Joshua Woodland Age 18
Ellen Woodland Age 16
George Woodland Age 15
Eliza Woodland Age 12
Sarah H Woodland Age 5
Wm J Woodland Age 3

Maternal Great Great Grandmother of Grace Dillon – Sarah Wilson Woodland
1871 Census of Canada
Name: Sarah Woodland
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Origin: Irish
Age: 32
Birth Date: 1839
Birth Place: Ireland
Residence Place: Glenelg, Grey South, Ontario

Maternal Great Grandmother of Grace Dillon – Mary Margaret Wilcoxson Woodland (Minnie)
1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Minnie Woodland - Age 54
Birth Year: 1866
Birthplace: Canada
Home in 1920: Saginaw Ward 4, Saginaw, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Female
Immigration Year: 1887
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name:   William Woodland
Father's Birthplace: Canada
Mother's Name: Elizabeth Willcoxson
Mother's Birthplace: Scotland
Native Tongue:   English
Naturalization Status: Naturalized
Household Members
William Woodland Age 53
Minnie Woodland Age 54
Elizabeth Woodland Age 9
Elizabeth Willcoxson Age 80

Great Great Grandfather of Grace Dillon – William H Wilcoxson
Michigan U.S. Death & Burials Index
Name: William Henry Wilcoxson
Birth Date: 1829
Birth Place: Canada
Death Date: 8 May 1904
Death Place: Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan
Burial Date: 11 May 1904
Cemetery Name: Forest Lawn
Death Age: 75
Occupation: Farmer
Race: White
Marital Status: Married
Gender: Male
Father Name: Thomas Wilcoxson
Father Birth Place: England
Mother Name: Eliza Pegg
Mother Birth Place: Canada

Great Great Great Grandmother of Grace Dillon – Elizabeth (Eliza) Pegg Wilcoxson
Born – 1808 Ontario, Canada
Died – 1892 Ontario, Canada
Source: 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 Census of Canada
I’m unable to identity parents for Elizabeth (Eliza) Pegg, but she is highly unlikely to have Anishinaabe or Metis ancestry. The 1891 Census of Canada lists both of Elizabeth Pegg's parents as born in the USA. Religion is identified on every census listed above as Church of England. Based on this information, in my opinion, it is most likely that Elizabeth Pegg's parents were English and moved to Canada after the Revolutionary War.

[Advanced Smite]

Based on available information, I believe that Anishinaabe and Metis ancestry through Grace Dillon's maternal grandfather, Robert Wilson Corrigan, is highly unlikely. This post will focus on the individuals in bold text below. The Corrigan line is from Ireland. The other lines I researched back to the early 1800s on the East Coast (Vermont, New Jersey). The evidence points to the Wilson, Hoover, Slafter, and Leonard lines being early colonists of English, Irish, or Scottish descent. 

Parents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Lou Laponsie & Carol Marcia Corrigan
Maternal Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Robert Wilson Corrigan & Elizabeth Marcia Woodland
Maternal Great Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Edward Corrigan & Phalle Mary Wilson
Maternal Great Great Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Michael Corrigan (Ireland) & Sarah Reid (Ireland)
Maternal Great Great Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Farwell Alonzo Wilson & Ann W Hoover
Maternal Great Great Great Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Nahum Newton Wilson (1805, New Hampshire – 1887, Michigan) & Phalle Richardson Slafter (1806, Vermont – 1863, Michigan)
Maternal Great Great Great Grandparents of Grace Laponsie Dillon: Jacob H Hoover (1813, New Jersey - 1887, Michigan) & Mary Leonard (1813, New Jersey – 1892, Michigan)

Grandfather of Grace Dillon – Robert Wilson Corrigan
U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
Name: Robert Wilson Corrigan
Gender: Male
Race: White
Age: 29
Relationship to Draftee: Self (Head)
Birth Date: 1911
Birth Place: Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Residence Place: Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Registration Date: 16 Oct 1940
Registration Place: Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Employer: Saginaw Police Dept
Height: 5 10
Weight: 250
Complexion: Ruddy
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
Next of Kin: Elizabeth M Corrigan

Great Grandfather of Grace Dillon – Edward Corrigan
1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Edward Colligan – Age 59
Birth Year: 1861
Birthplace: Canada
Home in 1920: Saginaw Ward 4, Saginaw, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Phalle Colligan
Father's Birthplace: Ireland
Mother's Birthplace: Ireland
Native Tongue: English
Occupation: Conductor
Industry: R Road Steam
Household members
Edward Colligan Age 59
Phalle Colligan Age 55
Shirley Colligan Age 25
Floyd Colligan Age 23
Dorothy Colligan Age 16
Robert Colligan Age 8

Great Grandmother of Grace Dillon – Phalle Mary Wilson Corrigan
1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Phalle M Corrigan
Birth Year: 1867
Gender: Female
Race: White
Age in 1930: 63
Birthplace: Michigan
Marital Status: Widowed
Relation to Head of House Head
Homemaker? Yes
Home in 1930: Saginaw, Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Father's Birthplace: Michigan
Mother's Birthplace: Michigan
Able to Speak English: Yes
Household Members
Phalle M Corrigan Age 63
Dorthy Corrigan    Age 25
Robert Corrigan Age 19

Great Great Grandmother of Grace Dillon – Ann W Hoover Wilson
Michigan, U.S. Death Records, 1867-1952
Name: Ann W Wilson [Ann W Hoover]
Gender: Female
Race: White
Marital status: Married
Death Age: 83
Birth Date: 18 Aug 1843
Birth Place: Michigan
Death Date: 12 Apr 1927
Death Place: Ypsilanti, Washtenaw, Michigan, USA
Father: Jacob H Hoover
Mother: Mary Leonard

Maternal Great Great Great Grandmother of Grace Dillon – Jacob H Hoover
1870 United States Federal Census
Name: Jacob H Hoover
Age in 1870: 57
Birth Date: 1813
Birthplace: New Jersey
Home in 1870: Millington, Tuscola, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Male
Inferred Spouse: Mary Hoover
Inferred Children: John Hoover; Addison Hoover
Household members
Jacob H Hoover Age 57
Mary Hoover Age 57
Addison Hoover Age 17
John Hoover

Maternal Great Great Great Grandmother of Grace Dillon – Mary Leonard Hoover
1870 United States Federal Census
Name: Mary Hoover
Age in 1870: 57
Birth Date: 1813
Birthplace: New Jersey
Home in 1870: Millington, Tuscola, Michigan
Race: White
Gender: Female

Great Great Grandfather of Grace Dillon – Farwell Alonzo Wilson
1880 United States Federal Census
Name: Farwell Wilson
Age: 38
Birth Date: Abt 1842
Birthplace: Michigan
Home in 1880: Vernon, Isabella, Michigan, USA
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Self (Head)
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Ann Wilson
Father's Birthplace: Vermont
Mother's Birthplace: Vermont
Occupation: Lumber Man   
Household Members
Farwell Wilson Age 38
Ann Wilson Age 36
Pholla Wilson Age 13
Earl Wilson Age 9
Floyd Wilson Age 4
Florence Wilson Age 4

[cellophane]

Grace Lynn Dillon's dissertation, Carefull Verse in Watchman's Song: A Study of Spenser’s Prophetic Voice (UC Riverside, 1997, English program), has the dedication "for my parents, Lou Starr LaPonsie and Carol Marcia LaPonsie". That confirms advancedsmite's conclusion.

At this upcoming seminar announcement:
https://simpsoncenter.org/events/event-detail?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D159457808&eventid=159457808
Grace calls herself "Anishinaabe with family ties to Bay Mills Nation, Garden River Nation and aunties and uncles from the Salteaux Nation". Family ties could mean ties by marriage, perhaps through the LaPonsie family.

Likewise, at this recent announcement:
https://representationmatters.art/2022/02/17/s2e5/
Grace is described as "Anishinaabe with family, friends, and relatives from Bay Mills Nation and Garden River Nation with Aunties and Uncles also from the Saulteaux Nation". Again, not precise.


Her daughter, Elizabeth LaPensée, has an essay, "Transformations and Remembrances in the Digital Game We Sing for Healing" (ca. 2016) here:
https://journals.kent.ac.uk/index.php/transmotion/article/view/243/1007
In it, she calls herself "Irish, Anishinaabe, and Métis", and "Anishinaabekwe and Michif"

In an interview here:
https://alter-native-media.com/2008/08/27/ipi-indigenous-peeps-in-the-industry-04/
Elizabeth says, "I’m a half-breed border crosser. My mother is Anishinaabe and Metis from the LaPonsies with family out in Bay Mills and Sault Ste. Marie stateside. My father’s Irish through and through."

Her website,
http://www.elizabethlapensee.com/about
says, "She is Anishinaabe, Métis, and Irish".

This steampunk related website from 2011 (under her married name, Beth Aileen Lameman):
https://beyondvictoriana.com/2011/04/03/the-west-was-lost-by-beth-aileen-lameman-and-myron-a-lameman-a-review/
says, "Beth has Irish/Anishinaabe/Métis heritage".

[cellophane]

Aaniin is our word for “hello” in Anishinaabemowin. It literally means I see the light in you. And I see many lights today. So much that it is Sâgassige gisiss—the sun has come out of the clouds.

"Sâgassige gisiss. The sun comes out of the clouds", with that spelling, comes out of Baraga's 1878 A Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language, Explained in English:
https://books.google.com/books?id=ntMzAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA360

[Diana]

Grace Laponsie Dillon's father in the 1940 census. The spelling is a little different but is the same family.  The last name Laponsie is spelled differently in many censuses.

Lou La Ponsie
in the 1940 United States Federal Census

Name:   Lou La Ponsie
Age:   7
Estimated Birth Year:   abt 1933
Gender:   Male
Race:   White
Birthplace:   Michigan
Marital Status:   Single
Relation to Head of House:   Son
Home in 1940:   Rudyard, Chippewa, Michigan
Map of Home in 1940:   Rudyard, Chippewa, Michigan
Inferred Residence in 1935:   Rudyard, Chippewa, Michigan
Residence in 1935:   Rudyard
Resident on farm in 1935:   No
Sheet Number:   15A
Attended School or College:   Yes
Highest Grade Completed:   Elementary school, 1st grade
Neighbors:   View others on page
Household Members   Age   Relationship
Angus La Ponsie
39   Head
Stellie La Ponsie
32   Wife
Lois La Ponsie Daughter
Lou La Ponsie 7   Son
Vern La Ponsie 6 Son
Russel La Ponsie 3 Son
Edith La Ponsie 2   Daughter

Grace's grandfather and Lou Laponsie's father in the same census.


Angus La Ponsie
in the 1940 United States Federal Census

Name:  Angus La Ponsie
[Angus La Ponsie]
[Angus La Ponsie]
Age:   39
Estimated Birth Year:   abt 1901
Gender:   Male
Race:   White
Birthplace:   Michigan
Marital Status:   Married
Relation to Head of House:   Head
Home in 1940:   Rudyard, Chippewa, Michigan
Map of Home in 1940:   Rudyard, Chippewa, Michigan
Farm:   No
Inferred Residence in 1935:   Rudyard, Chippewa, Michigan
Residence in 1935:   Rudyard
Resident on farm in 1935:   No
Sheet Number:   15A
Number of Household in Order of Visitation:   271
Occupation:   Salesman
House Owned or Rented:   Rented
Value of Home or Monthly Rental if Rented:   8
Attended School or College:   No
Highest Grade Completed:   Elementary school, 5th grade
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census:   60
Class of Worker:   Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939:   45
Income:   527
Income Other Sources:   No
Neighbors:   View others on page
Household Members   Age   Relationship
Angus La Ponsie   39   Head
Stellie La Ponsie 32   Wife
Lois La Ponsie 8   Daughter
Lou La Ponsie 7   Son
Vern La Ponsie 6   Son
Russel La Ponsie 3 Son
Edith La Ponsie 2   Daughter


Grace's great grandfather in 1910 census. He died ? 1910 to 1911 depending on a number of records. As you can see he is from Canada.

Angus Leponsie
in the 1910 United States Federal Census

Name: Angus Laponsie
[Angus Laponsie]

Age in 1910:   45
Birth Date:   1865

Birthplace:   Canada
[Canada French]
Home in 1910:   Superior, Chippewa, Michigan, USA
Race:   White
Gender:   Male
Immigration Year:   1887
Relation to Head of House:   Head
Marital Status:   Married
Spouse's Name:   Elisabell Laponsie
Father's Birthplace:   Canada
[Canada French]
Mother's Birthplace:   Canada
[Canada French]
Native Tongue:   English
Occupation:   Farmer
Industry:   General Farm
Employer, Employee or Other:   Own Account
Home Owned or Rented:   Own
Home Free or Mortgaged:   Mortgaged
Farm or House:   Farm
Naturalization Status:   Alien
Able to read:   Yes
Able to Write:   Yes
Years Married:   18
Neighbors:   View others on page
Household Members   Age   Relationship
Angus Laponsie   45   Head
Elisabell Laponsie
38   Wife
Regna Laponsie
13   Son
Joseph Laponsie
11   Son
Angus Laponsie
9   Son
Edwin Laponsie
2   Son
Louise Laponsie
4   Daughter
Graberil Laponsie
6   Son


Here is great grandfather Angus Laponsie find a Grave. Now the place of birth is the same on a Canadian census from 1871. And the spelling again is a little different.
 
Angus LaPonsie
in the U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current

Name:   Angus LaPonsie
Gender:   Male
Birth Date:   8 Nov 1866

Birth Place:   Vankleek Hill, Prescott and Russell United Counties, Ontario, Canada
Death Date:   13 May 1910

Death Place:   Brimley, Chippewa County, Michigan, United States of America
Cemetery:   Bay View Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place:   Brimley, Chippewa County, Michigan, United States of America
Has Bio?:   Y
Spouse:   
Isabelle Elizabeth Hill
Children:   
Reginald John LaPonsie
Clara Mary Burns
Joseph Evangelist LaPonsie
James F LaPonsie
Gabrielle William LaPonsie
URLhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43773230/angus-laponsie


Here is the same great grandfather in the Canadian census. All are French Canadian and the family has very deep roots in Canada and France. I have gone all the way back to the 1700s and all are WHITE. This side of the family is very impressive and Grace should be proud of them. I will post the rest tomorrow.

West Hawkesbury is a former township in the Prescott section of Prescott and Russell Counties in eastern Ontario, Canada. In 1998 it merged with its neighbouring township, Longueuil and the independently incorporated villages of Vankleek Hill and L'Orignal into the municipality of Champlain (considered a township). 

Angus Lapensier
in the 1871 Census of Canada

Name:   Angus Lapensier
Gender:   Male
Origin:   French
Age:   6
Birth Date:   1865

Birth Place:   Ontario
Residence Place:   Hawkesbury West, Prescott, Ontario
District Number:   75
Subdistrict:   b
Division:   02
Religion:   Catholic
Neighbors:   View others on page
Household Members   Age
Evangalist Lapensier
45
Philonese Lapensier
43
Evangalist Lapensier
22
Ellen Lapensier
18
Adelia Lapensier
15
Emmaline Lapensier
13
Beul Lapensier
11
Angus Lapensier   6

Baptieste Lapensier
1

[cellophane]

Angus LaPonsie Sr. was born Augustin Lapensée. In the Ontario register of Catholic baptisms, marriages and registers it says he was born on Oct. 9th 1864, baptized Dec. 18th, in L'Orignal. His parents had also had a child named Auguste, in 1862, but he died and was buried on April 27, 1864. The father's name in the two baptism records and the burial record is Evangéliste. The mother's name is spelled differently between the three, all hard to read, something like Celinise Bercier/Felonise Mercier/Philanes Mercier. Augustin's godmother was Scholastique Mercier.

I couldn't find the source for Augustin having been born in Vankleek, but it's very near L'Orignal. In any case it's two-thirds of the way from Ottawa to Montreal, 500 miles east of the communities Grace Dillon purports to be of.

The 1900 US census:
Angus Laponsia, Head, White, Male, born Jan. 1866, Married 4 years, Born in Canada (French), both parents born in Canada (French), immigrated 1881 (19 years in the U.S.), naturalized, farmer, speaks English, doesn't read or write. His wife is listed as Bella.

The line above him, in a different household, has who must be his father: Vangeli (?) Leponsia, servant, white male, b. Jan or Jun 1849, age 51, French Canadian with French Canadian parents, immigrated in 1896 (4 years in the US), alien status, farm laborer, speaks no English, doesn't read or write.

The Michigan marriage record (June 30, 1892, Sault Ste. Marie) shows the marriage of August Lapensee (28 y.o., born in Canada, father A. Lapensee, mother F. Marcies) and Isabella Morris (18 y.o., born in Bay Mills, father Joseph Morris). Both are residents of Bay Mills.

The Indian Census rolls for Bay Mills School for 1909–1911 and 1913–1915 don't show any of the surnames I'd encountered in Grace Dillon's family tree.

It's not surprising that Grace Dillon's grandfather, Angus Jr., who'd grown up and lived in an area with a large (majority?) Indian population, knew something about Ojibwe culture and language, and later told his granddaughter about them. Whether he called himself Native is not known, but in any case he didn't tell the census that.

[Advanced Smite]

I agree with the findings of Diana and Cellophane regarding the direct lineal ancestry of Grace Dillon (GD).

For the sake of thoroughness, I have worked through some of the extended branches of GD's family tree. I have found distant cousins that have married members of the Bay Mills and Sault Ste Marie Tribes. I'm not going to post the detailed information on these individuals as they are still living and not complicit in potential false claims made by GD. I'd be happy to provide the detailed information to a NAFPS board moderator for additional verification if they send me a message. By searching the Laponsie and Forgrave surnames with the tribe name, you will get results that seem to show a connection. The only connection is that GD has distant cousins that are tribal members through their mothers (unrelated to GD) but inherited surnames linked to GD through non-native fathers. I believe there could be more relatives of GD that have married tribal members that I haven't found yet. This information doesn't impact GD's direct lineal descent which has been shown to be from white settlers.

Maternal Side: 1st cousin, 2x removed (male Forgrave) married a Bay Mills Tribe member.
Paternal Side: 1st cousin, 1x removed (male Laponsie) married a Sault Ste Marie Tribe member
Paternal Side: 2nd cousin (male Laponsie) married a Sault Ste Marie Tribe member

[Diana]

Here is Lou Laponsie's grandmother and Grace Dillon's great grandmother. This is her Marriage License. For some reason it mistakenly says Isabella's Birth place is Bay Mills Michigan. Also I'd like to point our that there are lots of other Laponsie family members that are on the Ancestry.Com message board that are looking for the mysterious Indian in their family. There must be over 50 messages going all the way back to 2000. Michigan is kind of like Oklahoma every white person has a great great grandmother that was Indian.

Isabella Morris
in the Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952

Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952
Purchase Certificate
Name:   Isabella Morris
Gender:   Female
Race:   White
Age:   18
Birth Date:   abt 1874
Birth Place:   Bay Mills
Marriage Date:   6 Jun 1892
Marriage Place:   Sault Sainte Marie, Chippewa, Michigan, USA
Residence Place:   Bay Mills
Father:   Joseph Morris
Spouse:   August Lapensee
Record Number:   42

This is the 1900 census. Isabella's Birth place is Canada and gives her Immigration Year 1881.

Bella Leponsia
in the 1900 United States Federal Census

Bella Leponsia
[Bella Laponsie]
Age:   24
Birth Date:   Feb 1876
Birthplace:   Canada
[Canada English]
Home in 1900:   Superior, Chippewa, Michigan
Sheet Number:   7
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation:   100
Family Number:   101
Race:   White
Gender:   Female
Immigration Year:   1881
Relation to Head of House:   Wife
Marital Status:   Married
Spouse's Name:   Angus Leponsia
Marriage Year:   1896
Years Married:   4
Father's Birthplace:   France, Canada
Mother's Birthplace:   Canada, France
Mother: number of living children:   4
Mother: How many children:   4
Years in US:   19
Can Read:   No
Can Write:   No
Can Speak English:   Yes
Neighbors:   View others on page
Household Members   Age   Relationship
Angus Leponsia
34   Head
Bella Leponsia   24   Wife
Clara Leponsia
6   Daughter
Zellice Leponsia
4   Daughter
Regnald Leponsia
3   Son
Joseph Leponsia
1   Son

Lou Laponsie died in 1910 and Isabella briefly remarried a man by the name of James Cameron. They had a son James Jr. 2 years old at the time of this census. I've also have been looking at the Indian census for this time period and I did find a Cameron James with a brother named Angus on the census but the birthdate was much younger than the white James Cameron. This might be where the Laponsie family may think they're Indian. Stranger things have happened.

Della Cameron
in the 1920 United States Federal Census

Name:   Della Cameron
Age:   47
Birth Year:   abt 1873
Birthplace:   Canada
Home in 1920:   Superior, Chippewa, Michigan
Street:   Cameron Road
Residence Date:   1920
Race:   White
Gender:   Female
Immigration Year:   1900
Relation to Head of House:   Wife
Marital Status:   Married
Spouse's Name:   James Cameron
Father's Birthplace:   Canada
Mother's Birthplace:   Canada
Native Tongue:   French
Able to Speak English:   Yes
Naturalization Status:   Naturalized
Able to read:   Yes
Able to Write:   Yes
Neighbors:   View others on page
Household Members   Age   Relationship
James Cameron
50   Head
Della Cameron   47   Wife
Reginald Lapensie
23   Stepson (Step Son)
Joseph Lapensie
21   Stepson (Step Son)
Angus Lapensie
18   Stepson (Step Son)
Beal Lapensie
16   Stepson (Step Son)
Louise Lapensie
14   Stepdaughter (Step Daughter)
Edward Lapensie
11   Stepson (Step Son)
George Lapensie
8   Stepson (Step Son)
James Cameron
2   Son


In 1930 Isabella again remarried an Andrew J. Hill. Her son by her previous marriage James Cameron took Andrew J. Hills name. Also she names her parents who are also Canadian. Her mother's last name is Barrette, mis- spelled.


Elizabeth M Laponsie
in the Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952


Name:   Elizabeth M Laponsie
[Elizabeth M Morris]
Gender:   Female
Race:   White
Age:   50
Birth Date:   abt 1880
Birth Place:   Staynor, Ont
Marriage License Place:   Chippewa
Marriage Date:   6 Jan 1930
Marriage Place:   Brimley, Mich, Chippewa, Michigan, USA
Residence Place:   Brimley, Michigan
Father:   Joseph Morris
Mother:   Annie Borrette
Spouse:   Andrew J Hill
County File Number:   232
State File Number:   17 846

[Advanced Smite]

Grace Dillon and Elizabeth Lapensee were recently covered on "Fake Indians" blog. The blog post contains a link to a genealogical report that was commissioned by anonymous employees of Michigan State University (MSU) on 3 MSU faculty with questionable claims to Native American ancestry: Dylan Miner, Elizabeth Lapensee, and Malea Powell. I do not know who publishes Fake Indians blog or the writer of the genealogical report submitted to MSU. Their work on Elizabeth Lapensee appears to match the work done by Diana and myself in this thread.

Link to download MSU report: https://drive.proton.me/urls/G76687T8AW#Sus8ahOjP2iW

Link to Fake Indians blog post: https://ancestorstealing.blogspot.com/2023/10/little-big-wasicu-white-pretendian-lies.html

Excerpt from Fake Indians blog:

Here is the submitted report to Michigan State University concerning Grace Dillion’s Daughter. There was no connection to the claimed tribes.

For over thirty years, Michigan State University administrators have unethically allowed people who are not American Indians to claim American Indian ancestry as part of an institutional policy of allowing people to self-identify as Native. That institutional policy has opened the door to Pretendians, or fake Indians, who have no direct ancestral claims to the American Indian or Indigenous communities they claim. Further, those false claims have been maintained and supported through public website sites, university media, and promotional materials produced by the university. This means the university has been complicit with false claims of American Indian and Indigenous identity on the part of people who represent the university in classrooms, in public spaces and events, and in administrative decision-making on matters important to American Indian people and communities. Further, those falsely claiming Native ancestry and community belonging have profited, advanced, and been put in positions of leadership and authority based on those false claims. When university administrators were apprised of the false claims of the people included in this report and on the greater issues of the ways university policy allows for fraudulent claims of American Indian identity to proliferate at the university, the university administration at the top levels chose to support people making false claims.