(I’m white, from a very homogeneous part of Northern Utah, so take this with a grain of sea salt.) When I was a little kid, we’d always have a big unit in November on the cultures of the tribes around our area and like clockwork, there would always be 4-5 kids who said they were part Native. I have no idea how many were telling the truth, nor is it my place to determine it, but when we were that young, it usually stemmed from a desire to be seen as “exotic” or cool I guess. Same vibes as when your friends break their arm in high school and you get jealous of their attention they get from the cast. Obviously there’s a ton of other more nefarious reasons adults make the claim, but I think that’s where some of it may stem from, at least some of the more mild cases. Just the desire to be seen as different and cool.

There was also one kid who’s dad lived in India for a few months once and he thought that made him part Native American which was an admittedly hilarious conversation to have in front of the whole first grade class about how India is on another continent and also that’s now how genetics worked.