Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond says a DNA test backs her ancestry claims. CBC asked experts to weigh in

In an agreed-upon statement issued late last week, the Law Society of B.C. reprimanded Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond and fined her $10,000, after she admitted she had made a series of false public claims about her accomplishments and history.

At the same time, the lawyer, former judge and academic suggests that a DNA test referenced in that agreement confirms the truth of her Indigenous ancestry claims.

"I am grateful to have this matter behind me. I was raised by a Cree father and Scottish mother," Turpel-Lafond said in a statement provided to the Globe and Mail.

Turpel-Lafond did not provide that statement to CBC and has not responded to a request for an interview. Over the past few days, CBC has also been attempting to obtain a copy of that DNA test. On Tuesday, her lawyer replied, saying she is under no obligation to disclose her private medical information to anyone.

Some experts in the field of Indigenous identity and DNA say what has been reported about those tests may or may not confirm Turpel-Lafond's public ancestry story. 

"We have to have a specific test and the data to be able to adjudicate this," Rick Smith, an assistant professor of anthropology at George Mason University, said. "From the information we currently have, there are multiple possible scenarios." 

"We need to see the DNA test," said Kim Tallbear, a University of Alberta professor with expertise in DNA and its relationship to Indigenous identities. "Putting that out without providing the actual results and broader context doesn't really tell us anything.

"Maybe this is true, but it doesn't really tell us anything about her claims to being Cree or from [the] Norway House [Cree Nation]."

For decades, Turpel-Lafond presented herself as a Cree woman, a treaty Indian who was born and raised in Norway House, Man. She was seen as an Indigenous thought leader, having served as a judge, academic and advocate for children.

However, in October 2022, a CBC investigation found that some of Turpel-Lafond's claims about her Cree ancestry, her treaty Indian status, the community where she grew up and her academic accomplishments were inconsistent with publicly available documents.

Following publication, the Law Society of B.C. launched an investigation.

In its news release announcing the agreement with Turpel-Lafond, the law society said it focused on claims she had publicly made about herself and her accomplishments since 2018, when she joined the B.C. law society. Turpel-Lafond's lawyer said the law society abandoned its investigation into her heritage claims on the basis of the genetic testing. 

In the agreement, Turpel-Lafond "admitted that she committed professional misconduct by making misrepresentations that she knew or ought to have known were false or inaccurate in her testimony at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and in her application to the Law Society of BC."

For example, she claimed to have authored a book that was never published, claimed to have received an honorary degree that she never received and claimed to have a degree that she hadn't earned. She said her errors were not intentional or designed to enhance her status.