Dismay in Nunavut as daughter in Inuit identity fraud case goes public with her story

A year after her mother was sentenced to prison for defrauding Inuit organizations to help pay for her education, an Ontario woman went public for the first time about the case — and Jordan Archer's story has again stirred up anger and frustration among Inuit.

Archer, formerly Nadya Gill, spoke to the Toronto Star earlier this month about her mother Karima Manji's admission of guilt and conviction in a Nunavut courtroom last year, and how the case derailed Archer's own life and career.

Archer's story has aroused little sympathy in Nunavut, however, where many Inuit feel she and her twin sister Amira Gill still owe them an apology. The two sisters had originally been charged along with their mother, but the charges against the twins were ultimately dropped in early 2024 when Manji pleaded guilty and took "full responsibility for the matters at hand."  

Manji was sentenced to three years in prison last summer after admitting to defrauding Inuit organizations of more than $158,000 for her twin daughters' education. Manji had claimed she adopted her daughters from an Inuk woman, Kitty Noah.

The Toronto Star story describes Archer as a first-generation Canadian, and Manji as an immigrant from Tanzania who had lived for a brief time in Nunavut. Archer's father, it says, is British and the family has no Inuit or Indigenous background.

In the story, Archer said since the case was first reported she has "abandoned" her law career, lost a contract to play in a professional soccer league, and now works part time at a hockey rink.

Archer told the Toronto Star she was unaware of her mother's fraudulent claims to secure her scholarship money. She feels she's paid an unfair price for something she said she had no knowledge of.  

She also said she never claimed to be Inuk by blood. She said her mother presented her with an Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) enrolment card at the age of 17, telling the sisters they were eligible to receive the cards, which were for Inuit beneficiaries, because of a connection Manji had had with an Inuit family from Iqaluit.

Archer told the Star she had "no idea" her mother was using the NTI cards to secure tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships for her, though she knew the cards allow the card-holders to receive benefits. She said her mother controlled many of her life decisions, including all her applications, finances and logistics.

CBC News reached out to Archer, along with her mother and sister, several times since 2023, but received no response. In April, Archer refused an interview with CBC News to tell her story. 

Noah Noah, son of the late Kitty Noah, said he wasn't interested in speaking with the Toronto Star about Archer's story. He feels she's been unreasonably portrayed as a victim. 

"I'm disappointed, I mean, to say the least. To play the victim in all this, it just is… it's not right," he said from his home outside Iqaluit.

"[The sisters] should have been held accountable. I mean, I still believe that."

Asked if he has any sympathy for Archer's current situation, Noah said he doesn't.