Kai Pyle

[Sandy S]

"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.

[Advanced Smite]

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.

"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

[Advanced Smite]

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.

[Advanced Smite]

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.

[Advanced Smite]

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. 

Q10. 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

[Advanced Smite]

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."

[Advanced Smite]

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