Andrea Smith had long been an outspoken activist and academic in the Native American community. Called an icon of “Native American feminism,” she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work and has aligned herself with prominent activists such as Angela Davis.

Last fall, however, a number of academics, including Ms. Smith, were outed as masquerading as Black, Latino or Indigenous.

While many of them explained themselves and the lies they told, Ms. Smith never did. Why?

This story was written by Sarah Viren and recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

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