Canadian family charged with pretending to be native Inuits for financial gain

23 September 2023 , 13:39

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Twin sisters Amira and Nadya Gill, both 25, allegedly committed fraud by pretending to be Inuit (Image: Instagram/urfavpup_ace)

Three Canadian women face criminal charges after pretending to be part of an indigenous group to claim benefits.

Twin sisters Amira and Nadya Gill, both 25, are accused of committing fraud by pretending to be members of the indigenous Inuit community, who inhabited Canada before Europeans began settling there in the early 17th Century. Their mother, Karima Manji, 59, was also charged.

In a statement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Canada's federal police force - said that the trio had defrauded two organisations of "funds that are only available to Inuit beneficiaries by obtaining grants and scholarships" between October 2016 and September 2022.

Each of the three face two counts of fraud for the deception - which one Inuit group branded "flabbergasting". A 1993 land claim settlement between Canada and the Inuit people - known as the Nunavut Agreement - ruled that descendents are eligible for certain benefits, like grants and scholarships, in exchange for the land seized centuries ago.

Eligibility for indigenous status is granted by a group called the Nunavut Tunngavik Inc (NTI), which was the organisation targeted by the family. In March, the NTI said it had become aware of the potential "fraudulent enrolment" committed by the Gill sisters.

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Their mother had allegedly claimed they were adopted and that an Inuk (Inuit) woman was their birth mother. The organisation said the case was the "first of its kind" before confirming that they had been removed from the beneficiary list and the case raised with the RCMP. Before she died in July, the woman fraudulently noted as their birth mother, Kitty Noah, said she was not related to the twins, reports the BBC.

While calling for the sisters to repay the money they stole from the organisation, NTI President Aluki Kotierk spoke of his disbelief over the stealing of Inuit identity for benefits after a long history of cultural erosion. He said the crime was simply "another form of colonisation" and that it fitted with recent examples of non-indigenous Canadians claiming they were.

"You've wanted to take our language away from us," he said. "You've wanted to take our culture away from us. Now you're trying to claim our identity? It's just flabbergasting." The NTI said this was an isolated incident but that they will be tightening their enrolment criteria. Applicants will now have to provide their long-form birth certificate when they apply for benefits.

Ryan Fahey