The Native American population in the U.S. grew by a staggering 86.5% between 2010 and 2020, according to the latest U.S. Census—a rate demographers say is impossible to achieve without immigration. Birth rates among Native Americans don’t explain the massive rise in numbers. Instead, individuals who previously identified as white are now claiming to be Native American. This growing movement has been captured by terms like “pretendian” and “wannabe.” Another way to describe this recent adoption of Native American identity is what I call “racial shifting.”