NAFPS Forum

"Context: my grandmother has one Ojibwe parent from Sault Ste Marie and one Michif parent from Winnipeg. Why should she (and her descendants, including me) have to choose to be one or the other?"

This from a social media clip by KP that Advanced Smite posted earlier.

So, what tribal community claims KP? What community are they in-person active in?

KP appears to believe they are eligible for enrollment in a federally recognized tribe. Federally recognized tribes are self governing political entities, they get to determine their membership. As a Nation, they get to state that citizens must be citizens of only one Nation.

Many citizens of federally recognized tribes also have other Native American heritage. Being a citizen doesn't exclude other heritage.

One of countless examples is Jacqueline Keeler who is enrolled in the Navajo Nation and is also of Yankton Dakota descent.

So, KP needs to learn about the sovereignty of federally recognized tribes.

If KP is not accepted as a citizen, but has demonstrable heritage - great. Heritage needs to be backed up by skilled genealogy and ideally with actual community involvement.

Why is KP asking about this online? To me, they sound like an outsider talking at mostly other outsiders.

On 10/23/2019, Kai Pyle (KP) posted a series of tweets about their grandmother being a "Metis/Nishnaabe woman" with names of ancestors, locations, and dates. Screenshots of the tweets are attached to this post. I've detailed the most significant factual discrepancies below.

Quote"My grandma's maternal grandmother was a Metis/Halfbreed woman whose father had been dispossessed post-1870 at Red River and whose mother received payments from the Treaty of Lake Poygan in Wisconsin. She lived until 1934 and passed on her stories to my great-auntie Donna-ban." 11:57 AM - 10/23/2019

KP's "grandma's maternal grandmother" is Mary Louise (nee Krause) Keller. See genealogy below. In my opinion, based on publicly available information, the parents of Mary Louise (nee Krause) Keller were born in Germany. Despite KP's social media posts making it sound like they have extensive family history knowledge, claiming Metis ancestry through the maternal grandmother of Louise Ellen (nee LaPlante) Pyle doesn't work.

Where are the records that show Mary Louise (nee Krause) Keller's father at Red River post-1870 being dispossessed of his land?

Where are the records that show Mary Louise (nee Krause) Keller's mother received payments from the Treaty of Lake Poygan? This claim is especially bizarre because the Treaty of Lake Poygan was made with the Menominee in 1848. Does KP claim to be Menominee?

GRANDMOTHER OF KAI PYLE
Louise Ellen (nee LaPlante) Pyle
B: 1940 • Wisconsin, USA
D: Living

MOTHER OF LOUISE ELLEN LAPLANTE, GREAT-GRANDMOTHER OF KAI PYLE
Rose Catherine (nee Keller/Rosik) LaPlante
B: 3 FEB 1911 - Marinette County, Wisconsin, USA
D: 19 MAY 1981 - Brown County, Wisconsin, USA

MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER OF LOUISE ELLEN LAPLANTE, 2X GREAT-GRANDMOTHER OF KAI PYLE
Mary Louise (nee Krause) Keller (PARENTS BORN IN GERMANY)
B: 20 DEC 1886 - Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
D: 15 SEP 1949 - Oconto County, Wisconsin, USA

Dr. Kai Pyle posted about their "Metis grandma" having "one distant German ancestor" in 2021. Genealogy shows that their grandmother is actually half German and half French-Canadian. It makes sense that their grandmother would want to connect with her German heritage. Dr. Kai Pyle's stories about their grandmother being Metis and Ojibwe make less sense.

KP claims there are census records showing their great-grandmother's family spoke Cree. KP's great-grandmother's parents most likely spoke German...because they were born in Germany.

Dr. Kai Pyle was not happy someone had the audacity to question their lack of enrollment in the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. For enrollment, the Sault Ste Marie Tribe requires an applicant to have an ancestor on one of the base rolls listed below. It is a fairly liberal enrollment policy in terms of what is considered a base roll and the period of time (1836-1925) it covers. I've never come across anyone other than KP that claims to be a descendant of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe unless they are enrolled in another tribe that doesn't allow dual enrollment. It's difficult to not qualify for enrollment if you have a Sault Ste Marie ancestor.

The "Blackfoot friend of a friend" definitely didn't make an ass out of themselves as alleged by KP. KP shouldn't have assumed people wouldn't catch on eventually. 

QuoteQ10. What are the names of the base rolls that the Sault Tribe uses and where can I find them?

A10. The base rolls used by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe are:
• The Durant Roll of 1907-1910
• The 1870 Census and Annuity Payment Record for the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan
• The Garden River Annuity Paylist for years 1846 through 1925
• Records concerning land allotments, including patents to the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa Indians, or payments of grants or awards
• Any judgment award roll prepared in connection with the distribution of the judgment fund awarded for lands ceded by the Treaty of 1836.

Most of our rolls are listed online. Some are online but can only be viewed on a website that requires a paid membership. You can also purchase a copy of the Durant Roll and 1870 Annuity (in one book) through Heritage Books, Inc. If you live in the area, the rolls should be obtainable at your local library. We do not issue copies of our rolls yet. We hope to scan and have the rolls available on our webpage in the near future.

Source: Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians - FAQ

The attached social media screenshots may make you feel secondhand embarrassment for Dr. Kai Pyle.

In the first screenshot, KP laments that a grant doesn't exist which would pay them to live on the Sault Ste Marie reservation.

In the second screenshot, KP came face to face with their worst fear...racism...while driving to look at the family's old cottage. A man came out and wanted to know why they were there. Thankfully, KP was with their white mother and white grandmother "so it was not AS scary as it could have been."

Dr. Kai Pyle's thoughts on pretendians are in the social media screenshots below.

Kai Pyle (KP) posted on Tumblr about the NAFPS thread. Screenshots of that Tumblr post are attached. KP listed three issues with the genealogy that's been posted here. I've responded to each of these issues below.

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Quotea) at least one ancestral line that was missed entirely

If KP is inferring the Sophia Douville line was left out accidentally, it wasn't. It was actually left out intentionally as only the genealogy necessary to verify KP's specific claims has been posted. This was clearly stated in my first post:

Quote from: Advanced Smite on March 27, 2026, 12:57:17 AMDisclaimer
All of this research was done using publicly available information. It is my opinion. There is a lack of clarity on some lines that could lead to a Native American ancestor. The purpose of this research was to verify KP's specific claims - not to find distant ancestry. Please forgive any typos - this was prepared quickly and I couldn't find spell check in the new forum format.

There are several Ancestry.com users that believe Sophia Douville's mother was Menominee. While that information would explain KP's tweet about an ancestor receiving annuity payments from the Treaty of Lake Poygan, it doesn't explain why:

- KP claims to be a Sault Ste Marie descendant through Mrs. Battise Plant.
- KP claims their paternal grandmother's mother was Red River Metis.

If Sophia Douville's mother was Menominee, it raises an even more interesting question - why does KP claim to be a Sault Ste Marie and Red River Metis descendant (see below) instead of Menominee?

QuoteAs a Red River Métis and Sault Ste. Marie Ojibwe descendant, I am also interested in how present-day queer, trans, and Two-Spirit Indigenous people make connections with these ancestral legacies.

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Source: University of Wisconsin - Madison
Direct Link: https://gws.wisc.edu/staff/pyle-kai/
Archive Link: https://archive.ph/CoHbQ

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Quoteb) another line that clearly shows my ancestors as Halfbreeds which has been deemed unreliable for unclear reasons

This is quite disingenuous. KP says the "line" was "deemed unreliable for unclear reasons" which isn't true. One type of record, the Wisconsin birth record, identifies KP's 3x great-grandfather and his siblings as half breeds. I called it an "anomaly" because other records reviewed identify KP's 3x great-grandfather AND his parents as "white."

I was completely transparent about the existence of this documentation and candid about not having an explanation.

I never said it was unreliable BUT it is one record.

I would never say someone isn't Native American based on their family being documented as "white" on one record. Conversely, I would never say someone is Sault Ste Marie or Red River Metis based on a 3x great-grandfather being identified as a "half breed" on one record.

There has to be more documentation than just the Wisconsin birth record that leads KP to believe their 3x great-grandfather, Alexander LaPlante, is Sault Ste Marie. What is it?

Quote from: Advanced Smite on March 27, 2026, 12:57:17 AMIn my opinion, there are reasons to question KP's claims. At the same time, I want to be clear that it's possible KP may have distant Native American (NA) ancestry. An anomaly in the documentation is that KP's 3x great-grandfather and his siblings are marked as half breeds on their Wisconsin birth records. I will provide one potential theory below. I want to be transparent up front about that information but emphasize there are big issues with KP's claims. KP has made very specific claims to being Sault Ste Marie and Metis on social media that don't appear to hold up to scrutiny.

...

It's interesting that KP's 3x great-grandfather, Alexander LaPlante, and his siblings are listed as half breeds on their Wisconsin birth records when records from the previous generation don't seem to corroborate this. Alexander LaPlante's oldest sibling was born in 1835 while he was born in 1848. The 1836 Chippewa and Ottawa Treaty coincided with the birth of Alexander's older sister. $150,000 was negotiated by the tribes for their half breed family members. It was widely covered in the news and fraudulent applications were received. I checked the 1836 Half Breed Payment Roll (those accepted) and didn't find any of KP's ancestors. Some people have tried to link a "Catherine Brodwine" as Alexander's mother...but none of the demographic information matches. I can't definitively explain the birth record anomaly, but the timing is interesting. I'd love it if someone can provide a more definitive answer. The Litte Chute Historical Society has more information about this line: https://littlechutehistory.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I423802&tree=lc

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Quotec) some information which just does not match up with the info and documentation I have

If KP has additional documentation that supports their claims, I will gladly request a NAFPS moderator move this thread to "Non Frauds."

"though I'm still trying to locate the last doc I would need to get enrolled"

This is ridiculous.

Dr. Pyle needs to stop flailing and connect up with wherever they believe they can be enrolled https://www.saulttribe.com/membership-services/tribal-enrollment

For their entire genealogy they need to pay for professional genealogy, for instance through an organization like this: https://members.apgen.org/members/directory/search_APG.php?org_id=APG 

Dr. Pyle needs to do the actual work. Stop talking at us, do the work.